Faculty Profiles

Jelle Atema

Jelle Atema

Professor of Biology
Research Fellow, Department of Cognitive & Neural Systems
Adjunct Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Adjunct Scientist, Marine Biological Laboratory

PhD, University of Michigan, 1969
Areas of Interest: sensory biology, chemical signals, receptor physiology, animal behavior, behavioral ecology, chemical ecology, biomimetic robotics
atema@bu.edu
(617) 358-4392

Current Research

Our labs in Boston and Woods Hole focus on three seemingly disparate research areas: chemical ecology of lobsters, navigation in sharks, and dispersal in larval reef fishes. These efforts are linked by a common theme: understanding how marine animals sense their environment, how they use this information to make decisions leading to food and mates while avoiding danger, and how these decisions play out in population dynamics. Application of this research can be found in public education via magazine articles (e.g., New Scientist, New York Times), popular books (The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson) and TV programs (most recently: Daily Planet). Our work has contributed to lobster management and impacts reef conservation and marine protected areas. The lobster and shark research on sensing has led to navigation algorithms for autonomous underwater vehicles (“robo-lobster”).

The lab’s Boston section studies lobsters involving graduate and undergraduate researchers in two areas: behavioral tests of chemical signaling and neurophysiological experiments on the integration of chemical and mechanical flow signals used in navigation. The shark work is done in unique facilities in Woods Hole and Sarasota, FL, using four different species. It includes recording brain activity in freely swimming sharks. The reef fish work includes oceanography, population genetics, and sensory/behavioral analysis and is done on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia involving an international team of scientists. All projects include student participation, from high school to PhD. The Sensory Biology course (BI 463) serves as a portal for undergraduate research involvement.

Courses Taught

  • BI 260 Marine Biology
  • BI 563 Sensory Biology

Selected Publications

  • Miller-Sims V, Gerlach G, Atema J, Kingsford MJ. (2008). Dispersal in the spiny damselfish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus, a coral reef fish species without a larval pelagic stage. Molecular Ecology 17, 5036–5048.
  • Gerlach G, Atema J, Kingsford MJ, Black KP, Miller-Sims V. (2007). Smelling home can prevent dispersal of reef fish larvae. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA) 104, 858-863.
  • Gardiner JM, Atema J. (2007). Sharks need the lateral line to locate odor sources: rheotaxis and eddy chemotaxis. Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 1925-1934.
  • Atema J, Steinbach MA. (2007). Chemical communication and social behavior of the lobster, Homarus americanus, and other Decapod Crustacea. Pp. 115-144. In: Duffy JE. and Thiel M (eds). Evolutionary Ecology of Social and Sexual Systems: Crustaceans as Model Organisms. Oxford University Press, New York NY, USA.
  • Johnson M, Atema J (2005). The olfactory pathway for individual recognition in the American Lobster, Homarus americanus. Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 2865-2872.
  • Atema J, Kingsford MK, Gerlach G (2002). Larval reef fish could use odour for detection, retention and orientation to reefs. Marine Ecology Progress Series 204, 151-160.
  • Grasso FW, Atema J (2002). Integration of flow and chemical sensing for guidance of autonomous marine robots in turbulent flows. Environmental Fluid Mechanics 2, 95-114.
  • Atema J. (1995). Chemical signals in the marine environment: dispersal, detection, and temporal signal analysis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA) 92, 62-66.

News & Events