On October 7th, 2024, our head writer conducted an interview with esteemed Cuttlefish Cephalopod & Visual Ecology Researcher, Dr. Lydia Mäthger.
Lydia Mäthger is a German Cephalopod Researcher, Professor, & Children’s Book Author. She’s well known for her work with Squid & Octopus, Visual Ecology, & research at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Her personal website can be found at lydiamaethger.com.
In this interview, we ask 21 insightful questions to Dr. Mäthger, & get equally insightful & intriguing answers. Please note that all answers below are not direct quotations, & have been edited for clarity. With that being said, let us delve into the contents of the interview.
The Contents of The Interview
1: What sparked your interest in biology in general?
It goes right back to when I was a kid, I basically at a very young age seemed to have known what I wanted to do. My mother told me that at the age of 5, that my dream was to become a zoologist. I’m German, & at the time that I was growing up there were 2 very well-known zoologists who were working as a father-son team, & had a TV show, so occasionally I would hear about them. That is why I wanted to become a Zoologist. I kind of stayed true to that dream & by the time I went to high school, I continued with Biology.
I ended up going to England for my undergraduate degree in Zoology.
2: What led you to marine biology?
I was led down the path mainly by the people around me. I kept on meeting & interacting with people in the field, & before I knew it, I was doing my Ph.D. at a marine laboratory in England. While doing my undergraduate, one of my professors was John Messenger, & he was a very well-known scientist in the Cephalopod Biology realm. I met him through an undergraduate course, & then did a sort of undergraduate thesis with him. I got hooked on cephalopods that way, & he ended up being one of my Ph.D. advisors! The other advisor was Sir Eric Denton, who was also very well-known in marine biology. So that is how I ended up getting into marine biology.
3: Do you have a favorite oceanic creature or terrestrial creature? If so, what are they?
I have to say, it would probably be the color-changing animals. It would have to be the color-changing Squid or Octopus. On land, it would also be the color-changing animals you know, the reptiles, & amphibians—those kinds of creatures.
4: What is your favorite species of Cuttlefish, & what is your favorite attribute of Cuttlefish?
That’s very hard. I’d say Sepia Officinalis, just because I know so much about them. There are some very cool cuttlefish out there too, like the Flamboyant Cuttlefish, but I’d have to say Sepia Officinalis.
Questions About Her Research In General:
5: How did you begin your career as a marine biologist?
Essentially, when you study whatever it is as an undergraduate, you become interested in a particular direction. I was led into academia at an early point in my undergraduate career by meeting people such as John Messenger. As a Ph.D student, you aren’t necessarily signing your life away to academia, some people get their Ph.D.s & go into teaching or industry, so you don’t have to stay in academia or research.
I got my Ph.D at a laboratory dedicated to pure research, called the Marine Biological Association. There is not much teaching, they do run courses every once in a while, however, it is not a teaching institution. So, I was inspired by the people doing pure research, & that is how I discovered my passion for research. From there I went to Australia, & did two post-doctoral fellowships.
6: How many institutions did you work with in your career?
I didn’t move around all that much! I did my undergraduate degree at Sheffield University in the UK, & my Ph.D. work was done at the Marine Biological Association as a joint degree with Sheffield University. After my Ph.D., I left for Australia.
I worked at the University of Queensland in an interesting institution that doesn’t exist anymore. There was a center at the time called the Vision, Touch, & Hearing Research Center, & it was led by some really amazing scientists in the field of vision. During my time there I worked with Justin Marshall, a very famous neuroscientist & ecologist.
From there, I came to the United States & worked at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole where I stayed for almost 20 years. I am now primarily teaching courses at Roger Williams University, in Rhode Island.
7: How did you get attracted to the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole?
To tell you the truth, I was trying to stay in Australia, however funding wasn’t available. Roger Hanlon, another fantastic cephalopod biologist, had been watching my career unfold, & offered me a job, & I took it! I came to the United States without knowing very much about Woods Hole.
8: What were your first & last research projects?
My first research project, my very first project was as an undergraduate looking at Zebrafish, for my undergraduate project with John Messenger. I believe we were testing them on learning and memory, & behavior, specifically spatial learning by putting them in very simple mazes. Unfortunately, I don’t recall it all that well.
My first real research project was looking at Squid, with Eric Denton in Plymouth.
For my very last research project, I am currently working with a student at Roger Williams studying colorblindness in Peppermint Shrimp.
9: Do you have a most memorable moment from your career as a marine biologist?
I had one thing jump into my head instantly when you asked that! My most memorable moment was probably while doing research on an island off the coast of Australia, called Stradbroke Island. One of my favorite colleagues that I have had who also was an examiner for my thesis, is Mike Land – he was one amazing and well-respected scientist – was on sabbatical when I started my post-doctoral fellowship in Brisbane. I worked with him for 3 months while he was there.
The two of us were standing at this tank after being out on the boat all day & collecting specimens, & we were looking at these fish called Paradise Whiptails. It was late in the evening after we had all had dinner, & both of us at the same time looked at each other & said “Did you see that?!”. These fish were changing color right before us! So we stared at the fish for a while, & that led to a paper.
This goes back to one of the key principles of science, which is that we have to observe the world around us. Nothing beats going back to basics, & making observations when you are a scientist.
I’m currently homeschooling my son & we recently came back from the beach, & collected a few crabs. He was observing them, & sure enough he was coming up with questions.
10: What attracts you to Visual Ecology & Camouflage?
That was my time in Australia, as I was surrounded by Visual Ecologists.
11: What did you study in Cuttlefish?
I primarily studied their color-changing attributes, & their eyes.
12: What was your work concerning birds & insects?
We did some work on Birds of Paradise feathers, however unfortunately nothing got published on that. We collected a lot of data though.
The same goes for insects, I always use bird feathers & insects in my teaching, especially with children. You can always use them to demonstrate pigmentation, & structural coloration principles.
Questions About Outreach With Schools & Local Programs:
13: How did you get the idea to do outreach with Schools?
I think when your field is that specific it’s difficult to do continuous outreach. I think it's primarily because of my children, while communicating with them & their school teachers I realized that other people were interested in it.
It's a subject that is so suited to visual learning & hands-on activities, which makes it easier to teach to children.
There is an island just off the coast of Woods Hole, Penikese Island, & I have taught there almost every summer since the program started. I have also taught down in the Caribbean with places that have one-off programs.
14: If there is one thing or group of things you wish to have children know about Visual & Sensory Ecology, what is that thing?
Every organism that has eyes sees everything differently from the way we do. In terms of colors, spatial frequency, & everything else. Every eye is different.
Questions About Her Children’s Book & Passion For Illustration:
15: What attracted you to doing illustrations?
As a child, I grew up in a very artistic family. My father was a singer, & my mother did a lot of artwork with us as children. This led to my love of art, I’ve always been an artist.
Even in my science work, I’ve always done my own illustrations whenever there was a need for them. I always do hand-drawn illustrations, I prefer them to computers.
16: What is your favorite thing to illustrate?
Growing up on a farm, my favorite thing to illustrate was horses. Now I like illustrating just about anything.
17: How did you get the idea for your children’s book?
For years, my children were bugging me to write a children’s book. I was busy for years until the Pandemic hit in 2020. I had just lost my funding for the laboratory, & everything fell perfectly into place.
Being home while my children were home was a blessing, if I had been forced to also run a laboratory, it would have been very, very difficult.
I just used that time, I wrote primarily in the early morning hours before the children got up. I love writing, & the book sort of wrote itself in a way.
18: What is the story of Scholle und Timm - Unterwegs mit Janko?
My children are very particular about the kinds of books they like, & don't enjoy books that are too gripping. They both enjoy books like Pippy Longstocking that are calm & pleasant, yet still have a storyline.
They were very specific about what they wanted; it had to have dogs, it had to have a farm & farm animals, & it had to have a veterinarian. So I pulled that all together for the book.
The story revolves around a family who lives on a farm when this dog suddenly appears. The dog had been hit by a car so take him in & keep him. They do a lot of dog training & agility training with him, & he ends up being such a wonderful pet to them.
19: What are your plans for the remaining books in the trilogy?
The second book is written but, I haven’t found time to edit it for publishing. I already have my plans for the third book, however I am quite busy right now. It’ll get done eventually, I’m hoping to finish at least 3 of them, but, I could keep going too. I’ll see!
This was primarily for my children, it wasn’t something I did for my career or anything.
Questions About Her Personally:
21: How did you get the idea to keep chickens?
We’ve always had chickens, we’re vegetarian so we don’t have chickens for meat eating. Love the eggs, it's nice having the chickens around. My dogs are good with the chickens as well.
My neighbors are very appreciative of them as well, they get eggs every now & then.
22: Do the chickens influence your illustrations at all?
Yes, they do! I love drawing animals. I think if there is going to be a chicken involved in one of the chapters of the next book, there will be a chicken illustration.
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