We investigate causal, developmental, functional, and evolutionary aspects of animal behavior. This includes analyzing genetic, neural and psychological mechanisms underlying behavior, with a focus on the neurobiology of learning and memory, the behavioral ecology of species interactions, and the role of mating behavior and in species divergence.
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Benjamin L. de Bivort
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Discovering why individuals behave uniquely by linking automated quantification of behavior to variation at the molecular, cellular and neural circuit levels |
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Scott V. Edwards
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Evolutionary biology of birds and relatives, combining field, museum and genomics approaches to understand the basis of avian diversity, evolution and behavior |
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David A. Haig
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Maternal-fetal conflict in human pregnancy to the evolution of plant life cycles; particular interest in genetic conflicts within individual organisms, as exemplified by genomic imprinting |
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Hopi E. Hoekstra
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Identifying and characterizing the molecular changes responsible for traits that affect fitness of organisms in the wild; using wild mice to study the genetic basis of morphological and behavior adaptation |
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Martin A. Nowak
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Initiated the field of virus dynamics which led to quantitative understanding of HIV infection; evolution of cooperation |
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Bence P. Ölveczky
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Principles and mechanisms used by neural circuits to generate complex, learned behaviors |
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Naomi E. Pierce
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Behavioral ecology and evolution, focusing on species interactions such as insect/host plant associations and symbioses between insects and other organisms; life history evolution and systematics of Lepidoptera |
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Stephanie E. Pierce
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Assessing link between form and function of the vertebrate skeletal system – especially with respect to muscle/skeletal interactions during feeding and locomotor behaviors in modern and extinct animals |
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Yun Zhang
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How structure and function of neural circuits regulate complex behavior, including olfactory learning |