Welcome to the 2023 Grass Fellows

A little skate in an egg case in the ǧƵ's Marine Resources Center. Skates are one of the research organisms studied by the 2023 Grass Fellows. Credit: Dee Sullivan

The Grass Fellowship program brings early-career investigators to the ǧƵ for 14 weeks to pursue a self-designed, independent research project in neuroscience. provides full support for the fellows, who become part of the vibrant intellectual and social dynamic within the MBL scientific community while sharing space in the Grass Laboratory.

We're proud to announce the 2023 Grass Fellows:

  • Tommi Anttonen, University of Southern Denmark
    Unraveling the Presynaptic Mechanisms of Noise Overexposure in Avian Auditory Receptor Cells

  • Ivan Candido-Ferreira, Stowers Institute for Medical Research
    The Genomic Basis of Neurodevelopment in the Little Skate (Leucoraja erinacea)

  • Daniel Cortes, Virginia Tech
    Learning and Behavioral Studies in Unicellular Organisms: A Case Study of Stentors

  • Helen Farrants, Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
    Visualizing Calcium Dynamics in Squid Using Genetically Encoded Indicators

  • Itzel Gonzalez Ishida, The Rockefeller University
    Visualizing Spatial Memories: Localization of Molecules within a Drosophila Navigation Circuit

  • Takato Honda, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
    Electrophysiological and Computational Investigation of Sleep/Wake Behaviors and State-Specific Neural Representations

  • Kei Jokura, Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter
    Revealing the Mechanism of Light-Dependent Sign-Switching of Gravitaxis in a Ctenophore
    (Funded by The Kavli Foundation)

  • James Lee, The Rockefeller University
    Dissecting the Unusual Birthing Behavior of Arsenic-Resistant Tokorhabditis tufae
    (Funded by The Kavli Foundation)

  • Mariana Rodriguez-Santiago, Colorado State University
    Neural Basis of Acoustic Mating Decisions in a Female Tree Frog

for the fellows are here. This year’s Grass Lab is directed by of University of California Davis. The associate director is of the University of California, Berkeley.

Learn more about the Grass Fellowships
t-shirt design of the 2008 Grass Lab
The Grass Lab at MBL, founded in 1951, has developed many cherished traditions over the years, including designs for annual lab T-shirts.
2022 Grass Fellows at the annual 4th of July parade
...and, of course, representation in the annual Woods Hole July 4th Parade!