Laboratory of Sensory Biology Laboratory of Sensory Biology Animals use a variety of senses for communication or investigation of their environment, including audition, touch, vision, and olfaction.
Some animals even employ geomagnetic sensing, electrical sensing, and echolocation.
Understanding the ways signals are produced, sensed, and interpreted is important for the preservation of many species. How human activities affect the sensory abilities of animals is an important conservation issue. Typically, sensory research is non-invasive and often is conducted on trained, captive animals. Over the last few years, research projects on sensory abilities of animals have been conducted by WIU faculty and students with the cooperation of the Shedd Aquarium, Brookfield Zoo, Niabi Zoo in the Quad Cities, Wildlife Prairie Park near Peoria, WIU Horn Field campus, and WIU Animal Laboratory . This laboratory opened on 1 July 1997, as part of the Western Illinois University Regional Center.