Iain J McGaw

Tel: (702) 895-3390, Fax: (702) 895-3956
Email: iain.mcgaw@unlv.edu

Professional Experience

• 1992-1994: Postdoctoral Fellow - University of Calgary and Bamfield Marine Station, Canada
• 1994: Sessional Lecturer - University of Calgary
• 1994-1996: Instructor - College of Charleston, SC
• 1996-1998: Teaching Postdoctoral Fellow - Biological Sciences, UNLV
• 1998-2004: Assistant Professor - Biological Sciences, UNLV
• 2004-present: Associate Professor - Life Sciences, UNLV

Research Interests

I come from the Isle of Man, a small island 32 miles long and 14 miles wide, situated in the Irish Sea, between Britain and Ireland. Growing up close to the sea, I developed a keen interest in marine life, and went on to study marine zoology during my BSc and PhD degrees at the University of Wales, Bangor.

Although I am interested in many aspects of marine zoology, my research interests are primarily focussed in the field of crustacean physiology in particular the osmoregulatory, respiratory and cardiovascular physiology of crabs and how these interact with feeding and digestive mechanisms. Some earlier aspects of my research included modulation of endogenous locomotor rhythms by salinity and control of the decapod circulatory system by various neurohormones. More recently I have become interested in the relationship between behaviour and physiology, how various behaviours often have a physiological basis and help adapt the animal to changes in environmental conditions. Living in the middle of a desert is not the ideal habitat to study crabs! A lot of my research is conducted at the Bamfield Marine Station on the west coast of Vancouver Island in Canada, this not only offers an ideal habitat for crabs but also provides for some spectacular fishing.

A number of different projects are underway in my laboratory, these include:

• Anatomy of the circulatory system of decapod crustaceans. We have been using corrosion casting methods, coupled with physiological measurements to map the complex circulatory system of a variety of crustacean species. Our work is suggesting that the system may be regarded as partially closed, rather than open. Currently we are pursing work on vascular control of blood flow at the organ level and mechanisms of evolution of this complex circulatory system.
• Behavioural physiology of crustaceans. We are interested in the links between behaviour and physiology. In particular, how behavioural responses enhance survival in response to changes in environmental variables and how animals may control physiological parameters with behavioural mechanisms. These experiments are both field and laboratory based. We have been using CTD data tags to follow the fine-scale movements of Dungeness crabs in response to changes in salinity, temperature and depth in a small estuary. Field experiments have been backed up with lab experiments investigating the effects of environmental variables on feeding and foraging behaviour.
• Digestive physiology. We are studying the effects of digestive processes and how these impact other physiological systems. The digestion and assimilation of nutrients is associated with a general increase in metabolic parameters known as the specific dynamic action (SDA). We are particularly interested in how crabs of varying osmoregulatory ability adapt to low salinity environments while digesting food. Study of the respiratory and cardiovascular physiology has shown that some species are able to sum the effects of low salinity and digestion, while other species prioritize one or the other. This in turn effects gastric processing of the meal and gut contraction rates. Our recent work shows that the ability to balance the demands of physiological systems may be controlled at the cellular level. Different species have the ability to up or down regulate enzyme activity and protein synthesis rates.

Teaching

Life in the Oceans (Biol. 113)

Human Anatomy & Physiology I (Biol. 223)

Human Anatomy and Physiology II (Biol. 224)

Undergraduate Research (Biol. 492)

Special Topics in Biology (Biol. 493)

Environmental Physiology (Biol. 748)

Graduate Seminar (Biol. 796)

Publications

Lab Members

This provides links to labs members, past and present.