Lori Schweikert

Contact Information:

Florida International University
Department of Biological Sciences
3000 NE 151 St. MSB-250D
North Miami, FL 33181, USA
lab: 305-919-5838
office: 305-919-4104

lorian.schweikert@gmail.com

Github Page

Google Scholar Page

Education:

BS, Psychology, University of Tampa, 2009
PhD, Biology, Florida Institute of Technology, 2016

Research Interests:

My research focus is on the physiological mechanisms that govern photoreception in the marine environment. Specifically, my interests lie in vertebrate retinal neurobiology and dermal light-sensing systems, and the evolution of these systems in the context of the surrounding light environment. My approaches include various histological and microscopical techniques, electrophysiology, and analyses of gene expression.

Publications:

Fasick JI, Algrain H, Valdez J, Samuels C, Mahadevan P, Schweikert LE, Naffaa ZJ, and Robinson PR. 2019, in prep. Spectral tuning and deactivation kinetics of Marine Mammal Melanopsins.

Schweikert LE, Bagge LE, Wheeler BR, Grace MS, and Johnsen S. 2019, in prep. Dynamic Light Filtering by Skin Pigment as a Sensory Feedback System for Fish Color Change.

Caves EM, Schweikert LE, Green PA, Taboada C, Zipple MN, Peters S, Nowicki S, and Johnsen S. 2019, in revision. Carotenoid concentration in avian retinal oil droplets correlates with color discrimination across a perceptual category boundary. Journal of Experimental Biology

Schweikert LE, Caves EM, Solie SE, Sutton TT, and Johnsen S. 2018.Variation in rod spectral sensitivity of fishes is best predicted by habitat and depth. Journal of Fish Biology 2018: 1-7. *Article in theme issue - Fish Sensory Ecology

Schweikert LE, Fitak RR, Caves EM, Sutton TT, and Johnsen S. 2018. Spectral sensitivity in ray-finned fishes: diversity, ecology, and shared descent. Journal of Experimental Biology 2(21): jeb189761. *GitHub contribution

Fitak RR, Schweikert LE, Wheeler BR, Ernst DA, Lohmann KJ, and Johnsen S. 2018. Near absence of differential gene expression in the retina of rainbow trout after exposure to a magnetic pulse: implications for magnetoreception. Biology Letters 14(6): 20180209.

Schweikert LE, Fitak RR, and Johnsen S. 2018. De novo transcriptomics reveal distinct phototransduction signaling components in the retina and skin of a color-changing vertebrate, the hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus). Journal of Comparative Physiology A 204(5): 475-485. *GitHub contribution

Schweikert LE and Grace MS. 2018. Altered environmental light drives retinal change in the Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) over timescales relevant to marine environmental disturbance. BMC Ecology 18(1): 1.

Schweikert LE and Grace MS. 2017. Spectral sensitivity change may precede habitat shift in the developing retina of the Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 90(5): 553-563.

Cronin TW, Fasick J, Schweikert LE, Johnsen S, Kezmoh LJ, and Baumgartner MF. 2017. Coping with copepods: do right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) forage visually in dark waters? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 372(1717): 20160067.

Schweikert LE, Fasick JI, and Grace MS. 2016. Evolutionary Loss of Cone Photoreception in Balaenid Whales Reveals Circuit Stability in the Mammalian Retina. Journal of Comparative Neurology 524(14): 2873-2885.