Dr. Étienne Serbe-Kamp

Personal information

With a background in circuit neuroscience of motion vision in Drosophila from my PhD and postdoc, I started dedicating myself to democratizing science through Summer Fellowships, science communication, and citizen science. My research spans the investigation of (electro)physiological signals in living organisms especially humans, insects, and plants.

I am co-directing Summer Fellowships with Backyard Brains, where we invite undergraduates and teachers to perform their own scientific investigations and present the results at local or global conferences and/or publish it in peer-reviewed journals. I participate in events that promote open science, scientific literacy, and strengthening of the link between science and society. As co-founder of the science collective Hirnkastl I give science lectures at schools, open events, and universities. We prototyped a Biodiversity Citizen Science project called ERGo!, where we perform electrophysiological recordings of insects and plants to investigate their health, visual sensitivity, and environmental interactions.

With the current project CO-SENSE, we use eye-tracking technology to study interactions with climate change scenario maps among museum visitors and students globally. Alongside, we gather responses to questionnaires on climate anxiety, low-carbon behaviors, and climate change knowledge, aiming to understand the relationship between visual engagement and environmental awareness.

Research interests

• Visual neuroscience
• Hidden senses
• Information processing
• Biodiversity

Selected publications

1. Madariaga D, Arro D, Irarrázaval C, Soto A, Guerra F, Romero A, Ovalle F, Fedrigolli E,
   DesRosiers T, Serbe-Kamp É & Marzullo T (2024); A library of electrophysiological responses in plants - a model of transversal education and open science. Plant Signaling & Behavior 19 (1).
2. Ammer G, Serbe-Kamp E, Mauss AS, Richter FG, Fendl S, Borst A (2023); Multi-level visual motion opponency implemented by a single cell type. Nat Neurosci 26, 1894-1905.
3. Mishra A, Serbe-Kamp E, Borst A, Haag J (2023); Voltage to Calcium Transformation Enhances Direction Selectivity in Drosophila T4 neurons. Journal of Neuroscience 43 (14), 2497-2514.
4. Serbe-Kamp É, Bemme J, Pollak DJ, Mayer K (2023); Open Citizen Science: fostering open knowledge with participation. Research Ideas and Outcomes 9, e96476.
5. Eisenbeiser S, Serbe-Kamp E, Gage GJ, Marzullo TC (2022); Gills Just Want to Have Fun: Can Fish Play Games, Just like Us? Animals 12 (13), 1684.
6. Shin J, Serbe E, Gage GJ (2021); Authentic Research Investigations of a Controversial
   Question: Can Plants Learn? The American Biology Teacher 83 (4), 222–228.
7. Pollak DJ, Feller KD, Serbe E, Mircic S, Gage GJ (2019); An Electrophysiological Investigation of Power-Amplification in the Ballistic Mantis Shrimp Punch. Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education 17 (2), T12.
8. Leonhardt A, Ammer G, Meier M, Serbe E, Bahl A, Borst A (2016); Asymmetry of Drosophila ON and OFF Motion Detectors Enhances Real-World Velocity Estimation. Nature Neuroscience 19, 706-715.
9. Serbe E, Meier M, Leonhardt A, Borst A (2016); Comprehensive Characterization of the Major Presynaptic Elements to the Drosophila OFF Motion Detector. Neuron 89 (4), 829-41.
10. Bahl A, Serbe E, Meier M, Ammer G, Borst A (2015); Neural Mechanisms for Drosophila Contrast Vision. Neuron 88 (6), 1240-52.