Behavioral Toxicology

Organism behavior is quickly gaining traction as an important sub-lethal endpoint for cheap, rapid, and easy testing of chemical toxicity in aquatic ecosystems. The Daphnia magna, an important aquatic indicator species that has already been used for standardized aquatic toxicity testing by the EPA, exhibits unique and measurable behaviors that could serve as more sensitive and informative endpoints of chemical toxicity. The Vulpe lab is working to make behavioral measurements of Daphnia easier to collect using an infrared behavioral tracking system for high-throughput data collection and analysis.