Hadley Horch

Hadley Horch is the Norma L. and Roland G. Ware, Jr. Professor of Biology and Neuroscience and Chair of the Biology Department at Bowdoin College. Her research uses crickets to study neuronal plasticity, regeneration, and development in auditory systems.

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow: Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University (2001-2002)
• Ph.D. in Neurobiology, Duke University (2001)
• B.A. in Biology, Swarthmore College (1993)

Research Interests
Molecular mechanisms of neural regeneration, compensatory plasticity in auditory interneurons, gene expression during dendritic sprouting, and the role of guidance cues like semaphorin in neural repair. Techniques include confocal microscopy, immunohistochemistry, RNAi, and behavioral assays.

Publications Trends
Recent work (2021-2024) focuses on transcriptional changes during neural regeneration, molecular characterization of guidance cues, and developing genetic tools for crickets. Earlier studies established cricket neuroplasticity models and transcriptomic resources.

Awards

• Named Professorship: Norma L. and Roland G. Ware, Jr. Professor
• External Grant Recognition: Six Women Scientists Award (2018)

Advising and Labs
Leads the Horch Lab studying neural plasticity. Recent advisees completed honors theses on semaphorin-induced plasticity, auditory interneuron physiology, and gene expression in regeneration.