Classes Taught
- General Biology I (Bio 191)
- Cell Biology (Bio 250)
- Capstone (Bio 395)
- Cell Biology for Teachers (SDV 421)
Research Interests
Cohn is interested in understanding the
ways in which cells can respond to changes in environmental conditions
(e.g. light, temperature, water conditions) that allow them to remain
ecologically successful. Specifically, his lab works with diatoms, a
ubiquitous form of unicellular algae that exists in almost all
freshwater and marine environments, and one of the few kinds of
organisms that can successfully incorporate silicon, using it to form a
hardened siliceous cell wall. While many forms of diatoms are
planktonic, Cohn works with sediment dwelling diatoms (i.e. benthic)
that are able to move by a mucilage-based gliding mechanism. This
gliding is regulated, for example allowing the cells to move into light
regions (for energy) or out of the light (to avoid photodamage or to
provide for better refuge). The lab uses several kinds of microscopic
observations and treatments to understand how characteristics and
changes in light, surface, population, and water conditions affect and
help regulate the ability of different diatom species to move and
adhere.
Select Publications
Cohn,
S.A., Bahena, M., Davis, J.T., Ragland, R.L., Rauschenberg, C.D. &
Smith, B.J. (2004) Characterisation of the diatom photophobic response
to high irradiance. Diatom Research 19:167-179.
Cohn, S.A., Halpin, D., Hawley, N., Ismail, A., Kaplan, Z., Kordes, T., Kuhn, J., Macke, W., Marhaver, K., Ness, B., Olszewski, S., Pike, A., Rice, E., Sbarboro, J., Wolske, A. & Zapata, Y. (2015) Comparative analysis of light-stimulated motility responses in three diatom species. Diatom Research 30:213-225.
Cohn, S.A., Dunbar, S., Ragland, R., Schulze, J., Suchar, A., Weiss, J. and Wolske, A. (2016) Analysis of Light Quality and Assemblage Composition on Diatom Motility and Accumulation Rate. Diatom Research (in press, published online DOI:10.1080/0269249X.2016.1193058).