The Cephalopod facility

I am the Cephalopod Facility Manager at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University, where I oversee 250+ cuttlefish and other marine invertebrates with my team of husbandry professionals. We are using the dwarf cuttlefish to investigate how cephalopods instantaneously camouflage to their surroundings by controlling the color, pattern, and texture of their skin using their brain. Our team has developed a suite of scientific tools, including a genome sequence, gene editing methods, a brain atlas, a behavioral ethogram, and a developmental staging series, which are available on our web tool, Cuttlebase.

A central focus of my work is to transform how cephalopods are maintained and studied in the laboratory. I am establishing standardized husbandry practices for the scientific community to raise welfare standards and position the dwarf cuttlefish as a widely adopted model for cephalopod research. My ultimate goal is to see cephalopods flourish in research, where I believe their unique adaptations will advance our understanding of neural circuits, behavior, and evolution, while inspiring the next generation of scientists.