Research Interests

Biologists and non-biologists alike are fascinated by both widespread similarities and prodigious diversity in animal behavior. Nature documentaries, conservation agencies, and educators capitalize on the intuitive appeal of the fact that human and non-human animals exhibit similar behaviors – including aggression, courtship, and parental care – as well as the amazing diversity of forms these behaviors take and adaptations animals have to perform them. A modern extension of this fascination asks whether similarities in behavior are governed by the same underlying mechanisms. Exploration of underlying mechanisms can improve our understanding of the phenomena that shape evolution and dictate organisms’ ability to adapt to novel and changing environments. Moreover, the accuracy of the assumption that shared phenotypes share underlying mechanisms is central to the success or failure of using non-human model organisms in biomedical research. 

In my lab, we use integrative approaches to address these questions across hierarchical levels of biological organization (from gene networks, to neural circuits, to physiology, to behavior) and timescales (from immediate, to developmental, to evolutionary). I believe that fundamental principles governing brains and behavior are most apparent in evolutionary and developmental contexts. We therefore leverage natural behavioral diversity with technological advances that allow cutting edge work outside of traditional model systems. Specifically, we capitalize on the morphological, physiological, and behavioral diversity (and charisma!) of frogs to understand mechanisms of behavior and its evolution. We also think frogs are great for community engagement and education. Just as we need human diversity in our teaching and research spaces, we need diversity in our study systems to address fundamental open questions and to distinguish shared core principles from species-specific diversity in the biological bases of behavior and its evolution.