معرفی
Marie Dacke is a Professor in Sensory Biology at Lund University, affiliated with the Lund Vision Group and the LU Profile Area: Natural and Artificial Cognition. She returned to Lund in 2007 after a postdoctoral fellowship at the Australian National University. Her research focuses on visual navigation mechanisms in diverse organisms, particularly dung beetles, exploring how they use celestial cues like polarized light for orientation despite their tiny brain size. She leads projects such as UltimateCOMPASS (EU Horizon 2020) and collaborates internationally. Dacke is also engaged in public science communication, appearing on nature shows and organizing events like the Lund University Biology Show.
Her educational background includes postdoctoral training in Canberra, complementing her current roles. Research interests span comparative approaches to navigation systems across species, with recent studies on nocturnal compass systems and cooperative transport in beetles. She supervises doctoral students (e.g., Shaverdian S., Dirlik E.) and has secured grants from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and others. Public engagement includes science slams and workshops on natural cognition.
Key projects include analyzing cue integration in insect brains and the impact of surface topography on ball-rolling behavior. Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to environmental protection and innovation.
