Biography

A native of Chile, Benjamin Navia received his Ph. D. from Loma Linda University and joined the Faculty at Andrews University in 2013. Dr. Navia teaches Neurobiology, Foundations of Biology as well as Anatomy and Physiology. Prior to coming to Andrews, Dr. Navia taught at Kettering College in Ohio.

Current Research or Professional Activities

I study the neural basis of auditory behavior in crickets. Auditory communication is essential to the survival of a number of organisms. For example, female crickets exhibit phonotaxis, which is the ability to locate and approach the source of a sound, in order to find the male producing a song.  Such behavior which includes recognition and localization are controlled by specific underlying neuronal mechanisms.  My research focuses on understanding  what those neuronal mechanisms are and how they work. 

Publications