About me: Hi, I'm Jay and I study spiders.

my story

About me: Hi, I'm Jay and I study spiders.

my story

“The sense of deep time brings a deep peace with it, a detachment from the timescale, the urgencies, of daily life…Standing here in the jungle, I feel part of a larger, calmer identity; I feel a profound sense of being at home, a sort of companionship with the earth.”

Oliver Sacks – The Island of the Colorblind

I wasn’t always so interested in research

For about the last decade, I’ve been all about studying spider behavior and sensory systems. But this wasn’t always the case. Below is a scrapbook of events that got me to where am I today. It’s a bit much, but at least there are pretty pictures.

Field work at La Selva
Climbing at UNL
Ruffles, my nugget of a kitty
Bacon for birthday poutine on BCI

I wasn’t always so interested in research

For about the last decade, I’ve been all about studying spider behavior and sensory systems. But this wasn’t always the case. Below is a scrapbook of events that got me to where am I today. It’s a bit much, but at least there are pretty pictures.

Field work at La Selva

Elon University, it’s pretty
Graduation with Chris and Craig
Susan, my first bug pet
Ruffles the kitten

Animal Behavior at Elon University

My passion for spider behavior was first sparked during Dr. Duane McClearn’s Animal Behavior course at Elon University. He fostered my interest through independent studies in ants and spiders, along with many long talks in his office following class. While I owe my interest in arachnid research to Dr. Mclearn, I also experienced firsthand how a professor can change a student’s view of the world by being an effective teacher and caring mentor, which I strive to become.

Animal Behavior at Elon University

My passion for spider behavior was first sparked during Dr. Duane McClearn’s Animal Behavior course at Elon University. He fostered my interest through independent studies in ants and spiders, along with many long talks in his office following class. While I owe my interest in arachnid research to Dr. Mclearn, I also experienced firsthand how a professor can change a student’s view of the world by being an effective teacher and caring mentor, which I strive to become.

Elon University in North Carolina

Hebets Lab: Part I

I wasn’t accepted into any graduate programs when I applied straight out of undergrad. So I moved to Nebraska. As a lab tech in the Hebets Lab at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, I got my first hands-on experience in arachnid research, completing a handful of projects on wolf spider sexual signalling. This is when I learned how understudied most spider systems are, and how many fascinating systems are just waiting to be discovered. I’ve been hooked on arachnid research ever since.

The Hebets lab when I first arrived 🙂
In Nebraska, college football is…big.
The “Hebets Machine” at Halloween
Candy-croissants make their debut
The day the waffle-maker entered the lab
First time visiting the S. floridana site in FL
Sometimes Ruffles helps with lab work

Hebets Lab: Part I

I wasn’t accepted into any graduate programs when I applied straight out of undergrad. So I moved to Nebraska. As a lab tech in the Hebets Lab at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, I got my first hands-on experience in arachnid research, completing a handful of projects on wolf spider sexual signalling. This is when I learned how understudied most spider systems are, and how many fascinating systems are just waiting to be discovered. I’ve been hooked on arachnid research ever since.

The Hebets Lab when I first arrived

Chilling with Marie in the cherry blossoms
Cattle Point on San Juan Island
In Costa Rica with Nacho and Evan
Ruffles, the fluffiest thing in Seattle
FLP at La Selva
One of my favorite spots at La Selva
First morning at Palo Verde

Friday Harbor, U-dub, and OTS

After taking Friday Harbor’s Neuroethology course, I started my graduate program at the University of Washington. Unfortunately, things didn’t go so great at UW, and I left Seattle at the end of my first year with my Master’s. While remaining academically optimistic, I enrolled in the Organization for Tropical Studies’ flagship course – Tropical Biology. I immediately fell in love with Costa Rica and tropical field work, even at Palo Verde in the wet season. During this time, my belief in the importance of lab/field balanced research design was solidified.

Friday Harbor, U-dub, and OTS

After taking Friday Harbor’s Neuroethology course, I started my graduate program at the University of Washington. Unfortunately, things didn’t go so great at UW, and I left Seattle at the end of my first year with my Master’s. While remaining academically optimistic, I enrolled in the Organization for Tropical Studies’ flagship course – Tropical Biology. I immediately fell in love with Costa Rica and tropical field work, even at Palo Verde in the wet season. During this time, my belief in the importance of lab/field balanced research design was solidified.

OTS course with Nacho and Evan

Hebets Lab: Part II

And then I moved back to Nebraska, this time to start my Ph.D. with Dr. Eileen Hebets as my advisor. It was during my first year when I decided to focus on net-casting spiders. I’ll always remember writing my first grant application about net-casters, running back and forth between my cubicle and Eileen’s office, yelling out all the neat projects ripe for the picking. The years of fervent research that followed passed by too quickly. On a side note, I also started rock-climbing during my Ph.D. and it’s really the only way I can attempt to stay in shape. It’s fun, you should give it a shot.

Me, Eileen, and Malcolm at La Selva
First net-caster collecting trip ever!
Snorkeling with manatees in Florida
Paynes Prairie at night
After my defense
On my way to my first ABS conference
Good kitty

Hebets Lab: Part II

And then I moved back to Nebraska, this time to start my Ph.D. with Dr. Eileen Hebets as my advisor. It was during my first year when I decided to focus on net-casting spiders. I’ll always remember writing my first grant application about net-casters, running back and forth between my cubicle and Eileen’s office, yelling out all the neat projects ripe for the picking. The years of fervent research that followed passed by too quickly. On a side note, I also started rock-climbing during my Ph.D. and it’s really the only way I can attempt to stay in shape. It’s fun, you should give it a shot.

Me, Eileen, and Malcolm at La Selva
First net-caster collecting trip ever!
Snorkeling with manatees in Florida
Paynes Prairie at night
After my defense
Climbing at UNL
Good kitty

Lectured my first class at UNL
Hebets lab in the fall
Trying not to fall off a cliff in Australia
Sydney opera house lit up
Rick Sanchez at a night in the Australian Museum
Sunrise at Fitzroy Island off of Cairns
Snorkeling off of the Great Barrier Reef

Animal Behavior lecturer and UNSW

Following graduation, I created and lectured my own Animal Behavior course at UNL, and it was super rewarding. Then I was off to the University of New South Wales to work with Dr. Michael Kasumovic in Sydney, Australia. Australia has as many spiders as you’d imagine. During this time I also co-advised two Honour’s students with net-casting spider projects on mate-search and courtship behavior.

Animal Behavior lecturer and UNSW

Following graduation, I created and lectured my own Animal Behavior course at UNL, and it was super rewarding. Then I was off to the University of New South Wales to work with Dr. Michael Kasumovic in Sydney, Australia. Australia has as many spiders as you’d imagine. During this time I also co-advised two Honour’s students with net-casting spider projects on mate-search and courtship behavior.

Lectured my first class at UNL
Hebets lab in the fall
Trying not to fall off a cliff in Australia
Sydney opera house lit up
Rick Sanchez at a night in the Australian Museum
Sunrise at Fitzroy Island off of Cairns
Snorkeling off of the Great Barrier Reef

Cornell

And that’s how I ended up here, as a postdoctoral researcher in the Hoy Lab at Cornell University. This is the only lab that can record neural activity from an intact spider without killing it right away. Such a skill will allow me to delve deeper into the net-casting spider system, investigating how and what they sense, among countless other fascinating projects. The possibilities are endless and I’m very happy with how things have turned out.

mlem

Hoy Lab at Cornell

And that’s how I ended up here, as a postdoctoral researcher in the Hoy Lab at Cornell University. This is the only lab that can record neural activity from an intact spider without killing it right away. Such a skill will allow me to delve deeper into the net-casting spider system, investigating how and what they sense, among countless other fascinating projects. The possibilities are endless and I’m very happy with how things have turned out.

going up?

Jay A. Stafstrom, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral researcher
Neurobiology and Behavior
Hoy Lab – Cornell University
JS2627 “at” cornell.edu