Dr. Shaun D. Cain

Shaun Cain


Present Position: Assistant Professor, Eastern Oregon University

Education:

  • B.S. (Biology), Florida Atlantic University
  • M.S. (Biology), University of North Carolina - Wilmington
  • Ph.D. (Biology), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


Ph.D. dissertation: "The Neuroethology of Magnetic Orientation Behavior in Two Invertebrate Animals".

Professional Experience:

  • Postdoctoral fellow, University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories (2001-present).
  • Neural Systems and Behavior course, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts (1999).
  • Chemosensory Biology course, Bermuda Biological Station for Research (1996).
  • Molecular Neurobiology course, University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories (1996).
  • Advanced coursework in scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, microtomy, and histological techniques.
  • Sea Turtle Researcher for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hobe Sound Wildlife Refuge, Hobe Sound, Florida (1992).
  • Sea Turtle Conservation Program research and surveying assistant at the Juno Beach Marine Life Center, Juno Beach, Florida (1991).

Research Interests:

  • Neurobiology and neuroethology
  • Microscopy and imaging
  • Neural mechanisms underlying magnetic field detection in lobsters and sea slugs (Tritonia)
  • Animal orientation, navigation, and sensory biology

Awards and Service at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

  • Best Teaching Assistant Award, Tri-Beta Biological Society
  • President, Biology Graduate Student Association

Publications:

Cain, S. D., Wang, J. H., and K. J. Lohmann. 2006.  Immunochemical and electrophysiological analyses of magnetically responsive neurons in the mollusc Tritonia diomedea. Journal of Comparative Physiology A.  192: 235-245.

Cain, S. D., and D. B. Roye. Fiber type distribution of the musculature involved in antennule withdrawal behavior of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Invertebrate Biology.  In press.

Messinger, D.I., Kutz, K.K., Le, T., Verley, D.R., Hsu, Y.A., Ngo, C.T., Cain, S.D., Birmingham, J.T., Li, L.J., and A.E. Christie (2005). Identification and characterization of a tachykinin-containing neuroendocrine organ in the commissural ganglion of the crab Cancer productus. Journal of Experimental Biology 208: 3303-3319.

Cain, S. D., Boles, L. C., Wang, J. H., and K. J. Lohmann. 2005. Magnetic orientation and navigation in marine turtles, lobsters, and molluscs: concepts and conundrums. Integrative and Comparative Biology 45: 539-546.

Wang, J. H., Cain, S. D., and K. J. Lohmann. 2004. Identification of magnetically responsive neurons in the marine mollusc Tritonia diomedea. Journal of Experimental Biology 207: 1043-1049.

Christie, A. E., Cain, S. D., Edwards, J. M., Clason, T. A., Cherny, E., Lin, M., Manhas, A. S., Sellereit, K. L., Cowan, N. G., Nold, K. S., Strassburg, H. P., and K. Graubard. 2004. The anterior cardiac plexus: an intrinsic neurosecretory organ within the stomatogastric nervous system of the crab Cancer productus. Journal of Experimental Biology 207: 1163-1182.

Wang, J. H., Cain, S. D., and K. J. Lohmann. 2003. Identification of magnetically responsive neurons in the marine mollusc Tritonia diomedea. Journal of Experimental Biology 206: 381-388.

Lohmann, K. J., Cain, S. D., Dodge, S., and C. M. F. Lohmann. 2001. Regional magnetic fields as navigational markers for sea turtles. Science 294: 364-366.