Martin Wilson
Professor
Department of Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior
Division of Biological Sciences
1163 Life Sciences Addition (LSA)
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, California 95616
Phone: (530) 752-7250
Lab: (530) 752-1816
Fax: (530) 752-5582
Degrees
Ph.D., Zoology, University of Cambridge, UK, 1973
Publications
Teaching Interests
Neurobiology
Martin teaches several undergraduate classes in Neurobiology and is the organizer of the graduate Cell and Molecular Biology core course.
In collaboration with Richard K. Grosberg in the section of Evolution and Ecology, Martin teaches the “Future of Biology” course in spring quarter.
Martin is currently the director of the biological core curriculum and is heading the reorganization of the undergraduate core biology curriculum. Learn more about this here (pdf).
Research Interests
Dr. Wilson is interested in how neurons work together to perform useful operations.
“My research concentrates on the way the vertebrate retina works. The retina is a fairly ordinary piece of brain but it has several unique advantages. First, the retina is easy to work with. Many retinae will stay alive and healthy in a dish. Second, the retina is not too complicated. There are only 5 main kinds of neuron in the retina and we understand in outline how they are wired together. Third, we know everything about what goes into the retina (patterns of light) and quite a lot about what comes out (patterns of activity in ganglion cells). Lastly, and perhaps most important, we understand what the retina is for. This crucial understanding allows us to consider how the neural machinery of the retina is designed to accomplish its task.
