Motion pattern analysis
Locomotion of humans and animals can be analyzed with modern motion capture systems. Retro-reflective markers with a diameter of 1.5 mm allow precise measurements of the stick insect?s whole body during walking or climbing, including swing trajectories and target positions of all six legs and even antennal movements. The analysis of unrestrained movements can lead to new findings about leg coordination and furthermore about control mechanisms by the underlying neuronal networks. The direction of the eyes and antennal contacts to objects reveal information about the use of sensory input.

Invertebrate vision
From motion analysis the exact head position and the range of vision during unrestrained movements can be obtained. In combination with the knowledge about the arrangement of about 460 ommatidia in the stick insect?s compound eye, the experimenter gets the number of ommatidia pointing to an object. Behavioral experiments could yield information about the motivation for approaching objects or about different object preferences. Another field of invertebrate vision is the research on the visual pathways. In the neurobiology department headed by Prof. Egelhaaf motion sensitive neurons are in focus of research.

Mental abilities of animals
In the master?s program "Systems Biology of Brain and Behavior" at Bielefeld University the mental abilities of animals are part of every obligatory course. Not only learning in mice or preference tests with guinea pigs and birds, but also differentiation of singing in grasshoppers and chasing behavior of flies have to do with mental abilities. The correct recognition of predators, conspecifics, or food and the appropriate behavior are crucial in every animal?s live. For that reason I am still highly interested in this wide field of research.

Master thesis: "Whole body kinematics and 3D-targeting of foot contacts in unrestrained climbing stick insects (Carausius morosus)"
During flat walking stick insects put their hind and middle legs in certain positions relative to the anterior leg (Cruse, 1979). In my master thesis I want to find out, if target positions are also determined in z-direction. For that reason I analyze the whole body kinematics of stick insects, climbing over steps of different heights. With a modern motion capture system, using high speed cameras and retro-reflective markers, I get 3D information about the target positions from all six legs during unrestrained climbing.

Bachelor thesis: "Axonal Pathfinding in the Visual System of Drosophila melanogaster"
The visual system of Drosophila Melanogaster is well known and due to modern methods, it is very useful as model organism for research on neuronal development. During the third larval stadium the axons of the photoreceptors start to project into the lamina and the medulla. These projections are very exact predetermined and guided by different types of glia cells and several signal cascades. The glia cells evolve in different regions and have to migrate into special positions before the photoreceptor axons reach these areas. Glia cells give probably the final stop signal to the respective axons in the lamina and the medulla. Overall, the axonal pathfinding in the visual system of D. Melanogaster is a complex process with a lot of cells, genes and molecules involved.