Professor Michael Walker

Professor

Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour

Phone: +64 9 3737599 ext 87054
Thomas Building, Rm 250
Email: m.walker@auckland.ac.nz

Behaviour in Space and Time Laboratory

The Magnetic Sense

Our research goal is to develop a coherent understanding of the location, mechanism, operation and use of the magnetic sense in different animals. This requires that robust behavioural and electrophysiological responses to magnetic field stimuli be demonstrated and that the responses be unequivocally linked to a site and mechanism of magnetic field detection.

We have assembled an array of techniques for training different species to respond to magnetic field stimuli and have had some success recording neural responses to magnetic field stimuli by rainbow trout. We have also located candidate magnetite-based magnetoreceptor cells in the nose of the trout and traced the magnetically responsive nerve to the area where the candidate receptor cells are found.

Figure 1. A rainbow trout pressing a bar for food in response to a magnetic field stimulus

Animal Migration, Navigation & Homing

The positions where fin whales are sighted during the migration seasons are statistically associated with geomagnetic field intensity patterns. Responses to magnetic intensity theoretically permit animals to navigate effectively over long distances.

We are now engaged in a research programme in which are training pigeons to respond to magnetic fields and testing a model of how pigeons determine their current position during homing.

Teaching

Teaching contributions range from Sensory Physiology and Biomechanics (Stage II) through Animal Orientation to Maori Perspective (Stage I to Masters).

Undergraduate papers:

405.103 -Animal Diversity & Evolution
405.104 - New Zealand Ecology & ConservationAnimal Orientation; Maori Perspective in Biology.
405.207 - Animal Function & DesignPrimary and Secondary Orientation of Animals.
405.336 - Biological Clocks & CompassesOrientation, Navigation and Homing in Animals.

Service

SBS Tuakana Programme Targetting The Needs Of Maori and Pacific Island Students

Within the Faculty of Science, pass rates in Stage I (first year) for Maori and Pacific Island students have in the past been substantially lower than the overall pass rates. Within SBS, Maori and Pacific Island pass rates increased rapidly after an optional lunchtime programme of peer tutorials started in 1991 (Figure 1). This success was significantly affected by the switch to semesters in 1996 and by timetabling changes in 1999 that caused difficulty in making initial contact with the students. Percent representation of Maori students in all undergraduate Stage III Biology papers doubled two years after completion of the first year of programme (Figure 2). Significant here numbers of students have won scholarships to continue their studies both at Auckland and overseas, while others have gained entry to professional schools (Medicine, Veterinary Science).

	Figure 1. Pass rates of Maori and Pacific Island students in 405.101 Central Concepts in Biology, 1990-1999.
	Figure 2. Percent Maori enrolments in undergraduate Biology papers, 1989-1998. The Stage I tutorial programme began in 1991. The effect of the programme could be detected immediately with the percent representation of Maori in all undergraduate papers in SBS rising in 1992 and 1993 as the 1991 cohort made its way through to the second and third year classes.

The Tuakana Programme has also supplied Maori and Pacific Island students to act as role models and mentors in an Auckland secondary school (1991-1996). Data kindly supplied by the school and plotted in Figure 3 show that this program has had a substantial effect on the pass rates of Maori students in School Certificate Science. Maori students in one class participated in the program in their fourth form year (year 10). A year later and without followup from the University, Maori students in the participating class achieved average marks 6-28% higher than students not in the participating class. A higher proportion of the students from the participating class are therefore likely to advance to take science in subsequent years at high school and eventually at University.

Figure 3. School Certificate Science marks for Maori students at an Auckland secondary school. Students in the Bilingual Unit/Rumaki worked with Maori University students during their fourth form year whereas the general Maori students did not.

Recent Publications