Division of Animal Behavior (DAB): 2002 Spring Newsletter
In this newsletter:
Message from the Secretary
Peter SmallwoodBest Student Paper Awards!
This year, we had a tie for the Best Student Paper award for oral presentations. Congratulations to Brian C. Trainor from the department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin for his talk entitled: "Testosterone promotes paternal behaviour in a monogamous mammal via conversion to estrogen". And congratulations to Sarah C. Humfeld from the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri, for her presentation, "Male Acoustic Preferences Parallel Female Mate Choice Preferences". And congratulations to Tuhin Giri for winning the Best Student Poster Award. The poster was entitled: "Chemical detection of reproduction condition by the hermaphroditic shrimp Lysmata wurdemanni".
All graduate students are encouraged to compete for these awards at the Toronto meetings in January of 2003. There are actually three separate awards, each with its own cash prize: the best student poster award, best student paper award, and the A.M. Wenner Strong Inference Award (for the paper best exemplifying the use of strong inference in their experimental design). To be eligible for the DAB student paper awards, the applicant must be a member of SICB and our division. The student must indicate their intention to compete on the abstract transmittal form. Eligible papers must be original research by a graduate student or a Ph.D. whose degree was awarded no more than one year prior to the time of the meeting. Further information about support for graduate student attendance of the meeting of SICB can be found in the SSC section of this newsletter. Check it out: SICB can usually provide for your lodging in exchange for a ½ day of help (e.g., running the slide projector for an afternoon).
DAB Elections
Candidate for Secretary
Thomas P. Hahn
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California Davis
Education: B.S., Stanford University, 1984; M.S., Stanford University, 1985; Ph.D., University of Washington, 1993.
Professional Experience: Research Assistant: 1982-86 (Cornell University, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Stanford University); Graduate Research Assistant: 1986-1993 (University of Washington); Postdoctoral Fellow: 1993-95 (University of Washington, Johns Hopkins University); Assistant Professor, 1996-present (Princeton University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of California Davis).
SICB Activities: Meeting participant, Divisions of Animal Behavior and Comparative Endocrinology.
Other Memberships: Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Society for Neuroscience, American Ornithologists' Union, Cooper Ornithological Society.
Research Interests: (A) Environmental regulation of avian behavior and physiology, especially neuroendocrine regulation of reproductive cycles in seasonally- and opportunistically-breeding songbirds, and neuroendocrine and endocrine regulation of behavioral responses to unpredictable environmental events (e.g., storms) in songbirds. (B) Role of culturally-transmitted traits (songs, calls, habitat preferences) in behavior, ecology and evolution of songbirds.
Goals Statement: I have been active in ASZ/SICB since my first year as a PhD student, and have reached a point where I would like to make a more substantial contribution of time and effort. I'm particularly interested in trying to foster more consistent and extensive graduate student participation in DAB, and in continuing the DAB tradition of sponsoring high-quality symposia, especially on topics integrating behavior with physiology, neurobiology, endocrinology, ecology and evolution.
Link to officer list on DAB page