Shawn R. Lockery

Shawn R. Lockery currently is a Professor of Biology at the University of Oregon and heads his own lab there. The principal focus of his research is the neuronal basis of chemotaxis, a constant interest of his since his work on this subject as a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute’s Computational Neuroscience Laboratory. Working principally with the Caenorhabditis elegans round worm, which is the only organism for which there is a complete wiring diagram, his group is aiming to produce a comprehensive model of C. elegans behavior. He and his lab have produced novel methods and instruments to achieve this goal, including the first patch-clamped neurons, calcium imaging as a measure of neuronal activity, and computer-assisted behavior analysis, among others. During his Guggenheim Fellowship term he will further his study of microfluidity, at the Harvard lab of George Whiteside, with the aim of developing two new artificial soil devices that would allow scientists to study the relationship between neuronal activity and behavior in freely moving animals.

Among his many honors are a NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship (1990-92), a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship (1992-93), Sloan Research Fellowship (1994-96), and the Biology Teacher Recognition Award from the University of Oregon (1993-94), Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (1994-97), Searle Scholars Program Award (1995-98), MSF New Young Investigator Award (1995-98), and a NIH Career Development Award (2003-08).