We are interested in how organisms adapt to detect and amplify salient environmental signals based on their ecological or behavioral context. We emphasize a curiosity-based approach in which specialized, unconventional systems are exploited to reveal fundamental concepts of signal transduction and amplification, ion channel biophysics, and sensory adaptation and evolution. We then aim to understand how these molecular mechanisms impact organismal physiology, pathophysiology, and behavior. These interests span a range of biological contexts including, but not limited to: 1) electroreception in sharks, skates, and other fishes, 2) sensory physiology in octopus, 3) visceral sensation, 4) intracellular signaling and ion channels in organelles.