Rate My Professor Anna-Lee Jessop

Anna-Lee Jessop is a researcher specializing in biophotonics and visual ecology at Murdoch University’s School of Mathematics, Statistics, Chemistry and Physics, where she holds an adjunct position. Following her doctoral studies at the University of Western Australia’s School of Biological Sciences, Jessop has focused her career on elucidating the physical mechanisms underlying animal coloration and vision. Her PhD thesis, "From mudflats to deep-sea habitats: vision in semi-terrestrial fiddler crabs and mesopelagic hyperiid amphipods," laid the foundation for her subsequent investigations into diverse biological visual systems. She began her postdoctoral research at Murdoch University in May 2022.

Throughout her career, Jessop has contributed to collaborative projects across institutions including the University of Salzburg and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Her research employs techniques such as serial block-face scanning electron microscopy, hyperspectral imaging, and small-angle X-ray scattering to analyze nanostructures in butterfly wings, moth scales, deep-sea crustacean eyes, and sea urchin spines. Notable publications include "Hierarchical woven fibrillar structures in developing single gyroids in butterflies" (PNAS, 2025), "A leaf-mimicking moth uses nanostructures to create 3D leaf shape appearance" (Current Biology, 2025), "Elucidating nanostructural organization and photonic properties of the green scale of a leaf-mimicking moth" (Interface Focus, 2024), "Functional differences between the extraordinary eyes of deep-sea hyperiid amphipods" (Proc. R. Soc. B, 2024), "Composite material in the sea urchin Cidaris rugosa" (J. R. Soc. Interface, 2024), and "A morphological basis for path-dependent evolution of complex eyes" (Science, 2024). Jessop's work has been featured in Murdoch University news articles, Phys.org, and the university's 2024 Annual Report. In 2024, she led a workshop at Murdoch University on how butterflies create colours to inspire young minds.