Daniel Zurek is a PhD student researching the visual system of jumping spiders at Macquarie University, Sydney.
I studied Biology at the Universität Kassel in Germany, focusing on Animal Physiology, Cell Biology and Zoology. I received my Diploma (german Masters degree) in 2007, after an exciting time doing my research thesis in Stuttgart, at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research. I worked on attachment mechanisms and locomotion of leaf beetles in Stanislav Gorb's lab.
During my following round-the-world trip, I fell in love with Australia. Back home I decided to switch gears and move to Sydney to do my PhD on jumping spider vision with Ximena Nelson. Since 2008, I'm working with these fascinating animals at Macquarie University.
For the past year, I visited David O'Carroll's Insect Vision group at the University of Adelaide. I learned electrophysiological methods and applied them to my spiders to find out more about their photoreceptors. I moved back to Sydney in December 2010.
After Ximena's move to the University of Canterbury, I've had the pleasure to get adopted by Andrew Barron's Cognitive Neuroethology group. Currently I am finishing my PhD, and am thinking hard about the future.
More info about my project can be found on my supervisor Ximena Nelson's website. Best way to contact me is via email.
