Peter Alderks, Ph.D.
University of Washington
Department of Psychology
316 Guthrie Hall
Seattle, WA 98195

pwa2@uw.edu

Graduated Spring 2013

Biography
Peter received a B.S. in Zoology from Brigham Young University (2005). As an undergraduate, Peter did research in the lab of Dr. R. Paul Evans using recombinant DNA techniques to determine to what extent speciation was occurring between two populations of Yellowstone trout. Since entering the Sisneros Lab in the Fall of 2006, Peter has been involved in a wide range of projects including the reproductive biology of plainfin midshipman, sound source localization in teleost fishes, hearing sensitivity of the Lusitanian toadfish, as well as his own dissertation research on the ontogeny of hearing in the midshipman. Peter was awarded a NIH predoctoral Auditory Neuroscience Training Fellowship from 2007-2010 and he was he primary instructor for Psych 330: Animal Behavior Lab (2012-2013). He graduated with a Ph.D. in Psychology (Animal Behavior) in the Spring 2013. Currently Peter is working for MicroSoft as a user experience researcher.

Research Interests
Peter's research interests are in sensory neurophysiology in the context of natural behaviors. His research examined the ontogeny of hearing sensitivity in the plainfin midshipman using both electrical physiology (recording evoked saccular potentials) and behavioral techniques (startle-like responses) to determine the behavioral onset of hearing and hearing sensitivity throughout development. Peter used neuroanatomical methods to investigate the potential mechanism(s) responsible for the previously observed ontogenetic plasticity of saccular afferent senstivity in the plainfin midshipman.

Publications

Vasconcelos RO, Alderks PW and JA Sisneros. 2016. The development of structure and sensitivity of the fish inner ear. In: Sisneros JA (Ed) Fish Hearing and Bioacoustics: An anthology in honor of Arthur N. Popper and Richard R. Fay. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, Vol. 877, pp. 291-318, Springer Science + Business Media, New York.

Vasconcelos RO, Alderks PW, Ramos A, Fonseca PJ, Amorim MCP, and JA Sisneros. 2015. Vocal differentiation parallels development of auditory saccular sensitivity in a highly soniferous fish. Journal of Experimental Biology 218:2864-2872

Coffin AB, Zeddies DG, Fay RR, Brown AD, Alderks PW, Bhandiwad AA, Mohr RA, Gray MD, Rogers PH and JA Sisneros. 2014. Use of the swim bladder and lateral line in near-field sound source localization by fishes. Journal of Experimental Biology 217:2078-2088.

Alderks PW and JA Sisneros. 2013. Development of the acoustically evoked behavioral response in larval plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus. Public Library of Science One 8(12):e82182.

Zeddies DG, Fay RR, Gray MD, Alderks PW, Acob A, and JA Sisneros. 2012. Local acoustic particle motion guides sound source localization behavior in the plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus. Journal of Experimental Biology 215:152-160

Alderks PW and JA Sisneros. 2011. Ontogeny of auditory saccular sensitivity in the plainfin midshipman fish (Poricithys notatus). Journal of Comparative Physiology (A) 197:387-398.

Zeddies DG, Fay RR, Alderks PW, Shaub KS, and JA Sisneros. 2010. Sound source localization by the plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 127:3104-3113.

Sisneros JA, Alderks PW, Leon K, and B Sniffen. 2009. Morphometric changes associated with the reproductive cycle and behaviour of the intertidal-nesting, male plainfin midshipman Porichthys notatus. J. Fish Bio. 74:18-36.