Willa Lane

I am a PhD student in the Comparative Cognition Lab, supervised by Professor Nicky Clayton FRS and funded by a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. My doctoral research examines how cephalopod dynamic camouflage can be used as a "window into the mind." To achieve this, I use computational methods to study visual processing, cognition, and skin patterning in cuttlefish. My research takes place in collaboration with the Marine Biological Association of the UK and the CEEC Lab at the University of Caen. Alongside other members of the Comparative Cognition Lab, I also study various aspects of cue processing in corvids. 

To carry out my work, I draw on my dual background in marine biology and psychology. In 2023, I graduated from the University of Delaware with an Honors B.S. with distinction in marine science and a psychology minor. As an undergraduate, I worked on research including algal-invertebrate symbioses (coral bleaching), penaeid shrimp population dynamics, and the human memory error of boundary extension. 

Gates Cambridge scholar studying the meaning of intelligence

Meet the bird that can understand human commands

Unlocking secrets of cephalopod behaviour

I am open to consultancy opportunities where expertise in cognition, cephalopod camouflage, experimental design, and data analysis can inform challenges in bio-inspired design, computational models, animal welfare, and the development and troubleshooting of behavioural experiments. In addition to academic research, I have translated complex, confidential data (subject to GDPR requirements) into evidence-based recommendations for institutional decision-making within University of Cambridge colleges, and I supervise final-year undergraduate dissertation projects as well as providing small-group teaching (supervisions) in the Psychology and Zoology departments.