The sense organs are a topic of great interest in the Thewissen lab, especially the evolutionary changes in the ear and the organ of balance in whales. Olfaction is a sense that is absent in modern whales and changes in nasal anatomy can be studied in fossil whales. The anatomy of the nose is also studied in other mammals, from moles to humans. Olfaction in humans becomes less acute with age, but the reason for this is not fully understood. One possibility is that changes in the cribriform plate (a bone in the skull through with nerves pass from nose to brain) influence the nerves that carry olfactory stimuli. Using quantitative methods, graduate student John Kalmey documented changes in the cribriform plate of humans with advancing age.