At Indiana University we have assembled a group of behavioral scientists whose cutting-edge research and commitment to training in animal behavior span disciplines. Faculty are active in a range of research areas, with emphases on behavioral endocrinology, neuroethology, sensory processes, evolution and development, behavioral ecology, social behavior, and communication.
Students can explore a variety of research opportunities in both field and laboratory environments that employ a diverse array of vertebrate and invertebrate study systems. A key strength is our integrative, synthetic approach to the study of behavior. A complete understanding of behavior requires understanding both the “why” and” how” of species-typical behaviors, as well as the environment influences on and the physiological processes underlying behavior.
Students and faculty are part of an interdepartmental network of resources, including the IU Research and Teaching Preserve, the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, and the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior (CISAB). CISAB maintains a common-use Mechanisms of Animal Behavior Laboratory within the department where students can learn state-of-the-art molecular, genetic, and endocrine techniques. Students with strong research interests in the ultimate and proximate mechanisms of behavior are especially encouraged to apply.
Recording the communication signals of electric fish in a channel at Catalão near the confluence of the Negro and Solimões (Amazon) Rivers in Brazil. Electrodes at the ends of the probes are placed in floating vegetation in the channel. Portable recording and playback devices in the canoe allow researchers (Troy Smith, left, Jose Alves-Gomes, right) to record the electric communication signals of knifefish and to play back the signals of other electric fish.
Behavior faculty in the Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior (EEB) Program work on a wide range of questions related to mechanisms including hormonal, neural, genetic, immune, and developmental factors that contribute to behavioral regulation and behavioral phenotypes. Our experimental approaches range from long-term field studies to RNA interference, and include many things in between—such as neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, and behavioral genetics.
Our research is conducted within the broader contexts of evolution and ecology, and thus the highly collegial and interactive EEB group provides an excellent intellectual environment for our work, as does the interdisciplinary Center for the Integrative Studies of Animal Behavior (CISAB), which boasts more than 50 faculty affiliates from across the IU campus.
Graduate students who are interested in our Mechanisms of Behavior group typically apply to the EEB program, although some students may choose other programs in Biology.
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