Research 

Conditioning in Cockroaches

I have been working with cockroaches for the past few years as a controlled indoor alternative to the honey bee model I used during my PhD. I specifically use the orange head cockroach (Eublaberus posticus). This is a wonderful and practical laboratory species. In some ways they remind me of an insect version of a rodent model. At the moment, I have two publications on this work. The first is on habituation of a light-startle response. The second is on associative conditioning. Both papers are open access so you can click on the links below to read them. I also posted a video, which was originally an online presentation for the 2021 International Conference on Comparative Cognition.

Varnon, C. A., Barrera, I. E., & Wilkes, I. N. (2022). Learning and memory in the orange head cockroach (Eublaberus posticus). PLoS ONE, 17(8), e0272598. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272598

Varnon, C. A., Adams, A. T. (2021). Habituation of the light-startle response (LSR) of orange head cockroaches (Eublaberus posticus): Effects of acclimation, stimulus duration, presence of food, and intertrial interval. Insects, 12(4), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12040339

Operant Thermoregulation in Snakes

This project was a collaboration between myself, Dr. Aaron Place, Dr. David Craig, and Dr. Charles Abramson. Aaron Place and I both have a long interest in reptile behavior and Aaron suggested we explore operant conditioning in rattlesnakes. His idea was not to use food or water as a reinforcer, but instead use access to a cool temperature in a hot apparatus as a reinforcer. This method relies on snakes' natural tendency to seek cool places when hot, or warm places when cold. Our rattlesnakes learned to press a lever to reduce temperature in a hot apparatus. You can see a video below. Although rattlesnakes are interesting subjects, especially due to their thermal perception. I would like to move to a species that is a little easier to work with. For more information see:

Place, A. J., Varnon, C. A., Craig, D. P. A., & Abramson, C. I. (2017). Exploratory investigations in operant thermoregulation in western diamond-backed rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox). In M. J. Dreslik, W. K. Hayes, S. J. Beaupre, & S. P. Mackessy (Eds.), The Biology of Rattlesnakes (pp. 213-227). Rodeo, NM: ECO Herpetological Publishing and Distribution.