Rate My Professor Bart Geurten

Dr. Bart Geurten is a Lecturer in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago, with expertise in neuroscience. His research examines neuronal networks in insect brains responsible for cognition and behaviour, using machine-learning pipelines that incorporate image recognition, markerless pose estimation, behaviour discovery, computational modelling from movement to biophysics mechanisms, Python-based tools with PyTorch and NumPy for reproducibility, high-throughput videography and automated tracking for quantitative behaviour analysis, genetic and biochemical methods to modify insect circuits, and in vivo neurophysiology including calcium imaging during cognitive tasks. These techniques extend to applications in animal welfare through automated behaviour scoring and medical science via movement analytics and decision support. Prior to his current role, Geurten held a postdoctoral position at the University of Göttingen's Department of Cellular Neurobiology from June 2011 to July 2022 and positions at Bielefeld University from 2010 to 2012.

Geurten teaches AGRI 101 Agricultural Innovation, BIOL 112 Animal Biology, ZOOL 223 Animal Physiology, ZOOL 314 Neurobiology, ZOOL 412 Neurobiology and Behaviour, and COSC 420 Deep Learning. He supervises PhD students such as Asj Taylor on behavioural and neuronal correlates of olfactory attention in honey bees and Jon Rolfes on ecology and conservation of lizards; master's student Jess Carroll on the influence of thermal stimuli on insect aggression; honours student Theo Dodd on bifurcations in brain evolution; and project student Ella Voight. Former postdocs in his lab include Dr. Phoebe Chapman (2023–2024) and Dr. Luna Grey (2025–2026), with the lab having graduated four PhDs, 21 master's students, and eight bachelor's students. Key publications include Garg et al. (2025), 'Patient-specific mutation of contact site protein Tomm70 causes neurodegeneration' (Disease Models & Mechanisms); Hehlert et al. (2025), 'NOMPC ion channel hinge forms a gating spring that initiates mechanosensation' (Nature Neuroscience); Garg et al. (2024), 'Axon demyelination and degeneration in a zebrafish spastizin model of hereditary spastic paraplegia' (Open Biology); Çoban et al. (2024), 'The caloric value of food intake structurally adjusts a neuronal mushroom body circuit mediating olfactory learning in Drosophila' (Learning & Memory); Eckmeier et al. (2008), 'Gaze strategy in the free flying zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)' (PLoS One); and Geurten et al. (2007), 'Neural mechanisms underlying target detection in a dragonfly centrifugal neuron' (Journal of Experimental Biology).