This summer we hosted a South Kitsap School District high school science instructor, Bill Conley, in conjunction with the Center for Neurotechnology (CNT) Research Experiences for Teachers. The program includes curriculum development through CNT as well as in-lab time with a researcher and their team. Bill received Master of Arts in Teaching and Science Education from Western Governors University and Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Wright State University.
Bill took on a project to consolidate and streamline a wireless in-cage training and reward system for non-human primates. Devon Griggs, a PhD student in the lab, gave Bill a hand with interface design and all around support. A team of graduate (Devin Griggs and Julien Bloch) and undergraduate (Shivalika Chavan and Kali Coubrough) students had already developed custom software that could be broadcast to an iPad through WiFi. Bill devised a physical framework that can securely hold the iPad to the caging so it is accessible to the animals and incorporated a reward system. When testing runs of the iPad game are started, correct choices trigger a positive tone as well as a rotation of a small reservoir which dispenses a treats into the cage’s feeder box. The monkey is able to collect the treats in time to play the next round of the game.