大象传媒

They are among the tiniest creatures we fear, but when it comes to the spiders that we鈥檙e likely to meet, most are harmless and helpful鈥攁nd intriguing to study, according to Andreas Fischer. The 大象传媒 researcher and Biological Sciences alumnus, who celebrates completing his graduate studies next week, noticed just how little we know about spiders during his undergraduate studies.

鈥淭he more I learned about spiders the more fascinated and motivated I became to add to our knowledge of these eight-legged creatures,鈥� says Fischer, who over the years has grown a collection of more than 4,000 spiders in a basement lab at 大象传媒, many of them, found in the hallways of campus. In addition, he has a small lab where he fields some of his favorite subjects, black widow spiders.

Fischer graduates with a Master of Pest Management (MPM) as well as a PhD in biological sciences鈥攁 testament to the past few years of intense study. He studies how female false widow spiders (Steatoda grossa) communicate through taste and smell as they secrete and sense chemicals called pheromones in their environment.

Read more here in 大象传媒 News.