Sonke Johnsen

Ida Stephens Owens Distinguished Professor

Appointments and Affiliations

• Ida Stephens Owens Distinguished Professor
• Professor of Biology
• Professor in the Division of Marine Science and Conservation
• Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
• Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

Contact Information

• Office Location: 301 Bio Sci Bldg, Durham, NC 27708
• Email Address: sjohnsen@duke.edu
• Websites:
  • lab website

Education

• B.A. Swarthmore College, 1988
• Ph.D. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1996

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

• top 50 Publication in chemistry or materials science. Nature Communications journal . 2021
• Best Publication in 2020. Deep-Sea Biological Society. 2021

Courses Taught

• PSY 427S: Current Topics in Sensory Biology
• NEUROSCI 427S: Current Topics in Sensory Biology
• NEUROSCI 392: Neuroscience Independent Scholarship 2: Advanced Topics
• NEUROSCI 391: Neuroscience Independent Scholarship 1: Advanced Topics
• MARSCI 427A: Current Topics in Sensory Biology
• BIOLOGY 792: Research
• BIOLOGY 791T: Tutorial
• BIOLOGY 493: Research Independent Study
• BIOLOGY 490T: Tutorial
• BIOLOGY 427S: Current Topics in Sensory Biology
• BIOLOGY 427A: Current Topics in Sensory Biology
• BIOLOGY 293: Research Independent Study

In the News

• Duke Awards 32 New Distinguished Professorships for 2024 (Mar 19, 2024 | Duke T…
• Brittle Stars Can Learn Just Fine -- Even Without a Brain (Nov 29, 2023 | Duke …
• This Fish Doesn’t Just See With Its Eyes -- It Also Sees With Its Skin. (Aug 22…
• Glassfrogs Hide Red Blood Cells in Their Liver to Become Transparent (Jan 3, 20…
• Traveling With Friends Helps Even Mixed-Up Migrators Find Their Way (Dec 9, 202…
• Check This Out! Watch Whales Catch Their Favorite Food By Blowing Bubbles (Nov …
• Ultra-Black Skin Allows Some Fish to Lurk Unseen (Jul 16, 2020)
• Green is More Than Skin-Deep for Hundreds of Frog Species (Jul 13, 2020)
• To Make Ultra-Black Materials That Won’t Weigh Things Down, Consider the Butter…
• Solar Storms Could Scramble Whales' Navigational Sense (Feb 24, 2020)
• Monsters from the Deep: Duke-Led Research Team Captures Rare Video of Giant Squ…
• Portrait of a Scientist as a Photographer (Sep 18, 2018 | Duke Arts)
• Project on Color Vision of Shrimp Helps Biology Students See Data Science in Ne…
• Details That Look Sharp to People May be Blurry to Their Pets (May 30, 2018)
• How Deep-Sea Fish Are So Exceptionally Black (Apr 23, 2018 | National Geographi…
• How the Color-Changing Hogfish Sees With Its Skin (Mar 12, 2018)
• Mismatched Eyes Help Squid Survive Oceans Twilight Zone (Feb 13, 2017)
• Midwater Ocean Creatures Use Nanotech Camouflage (Nov 3, 2016)
• Sonke Johnsen: In the ocean, invisibility trumps ultra-vision (Aug 23, 2016 | C…
• In the Ocean, Clever Camouflage Beats Super Sight (Aug 23, 2016)
• Sönke Johnsen: Some animals ‘see’ the world through oddball eyes (May 18, 2016 …
• Black Widows: Obvious to Predators, Stealthy to Prey (Feb 29, 2016)
• Post-exercise fog muddies a see-through shrimp’s cloak of invisibility (Jan 8, …
• Camouflaged Cuttlefish Employ Electrical Stealth (Dec 2, 2015)
• Johnsen's Book wins PROSE Award (Apr 1, 2015)
• Sönke Johnsen explores a world of creatures that hide in the open (Aug 19, 2014…

Representative Publications