K. P. Ossenkopp

Dr. Klaus-Peter Ossenkopp

Professor Emeritus - Cognitive, Developmental and Brain Sciences

Email: ossenkop@uwo.ca

  • Bio

  • Publications

  • Research

Biographical Information

I was born in Hildesheim, Germany but received my early education in Winnipeg, Manitoba. My initial exposure to scientific research was in an insect ethology laboratory at the University of Manitoba and I was very much influenced by the writings of Karl von Frisch on the behavior of honeybees. This early influence of ethology has had a lasting impact on my interest in behavior from a zoological perspective and led to a foundation of evolutionary thinking in my pursuit of understanding the relationship between brain and behavior, in the kinds of research questions that have intrigued me, and in the methodological approaches that I have used in my various research programs.

I obtained my B.A.(Hons) in Psychology from the University of Manitoba in 1971. Following receipt of a Certificate in Education I taught high school for a year but realized that a research career was really what I would be most happy with. I pursued this goal by completing my M.A. in Experimental Psychology at Manitoba in 1975 and my Ph.D. degree in Biopsychology at York University in Toronto in 1978. I then spent 2 years as an NSERC post-doctoral fellow in Dr. C. H. Vanderwolf’s laboratory at the University of Western Ontario studying brain electrophysiology in relation to behavior in rats. From 1981-1990 I held a NSERC University Research Fellowship at the University of Western Ontario.

I am currently a Full Professor in the Department of Psychology and a core faculty member in the Graduate Neuroscience Program. My previous positions have all been at the University of Western Ontario, as an assistant professor from 1980-1986 and an associate professor from 1986-1989 in the Department of Psychology. I served as Chair of the Department from 2003-07. I was also associated with the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology from 1989 to 2001. As a co-director of Bioelectromagnetics Western, a research group interested in the biological effects of electromagnetic fields, I have been able to continue my research interests in this area and to assist with the organization of symposia and presentation of public lectures.

My general research interests are in the area of behavioral neuroscience with an emphasis on brain-behavior relationships. There are two general themes in my current research interests: (a) biological defence mechanisms related to the solution of a variety of problems that organisms encounter in attempting gain resources from the environment (b) development of animal models of behavioral disorders. However, I have diverse interests and have done research on such topics as the biological effects of electromagnetic fields as well as general issues related to methodology and statistical analysis in behavioral neuroscience.