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Animal Behavior Month includes collaborations, talks

04/03/2008

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A meadow vole.

Animal Behavior Month is being observed at Miami in collaboration with the University of Cincinnati's department of biological sciences. Events at Miami include lectures April 17 and 24; events at UC include lectures April 7 and 8 and a film at the Cincinnati Zoological Park April 7.

At UC, Pulitzer Prize-winner and leading authority on ants Bert Holldobler will speak about ant societies at 4 p.m. Monday, April 7, in 502 Rieveschel Hall and at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, in 500 Swift Hall. Holldobler holds positions at the University of Wuerzburg in Germany and at Arizona State University where he is a Foundation Professor in the School of Life Sciences. Holldobler is a co-winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction for his work on The Ants with Edward O. Wilson � the only professional science work to have won a Pulitzer Prize. The award-winning documentary �Ants: Nature�s Secret Power,� will be shown at 7:30 pm. April 7 in the Frisch�s Theatre at the Cincinnati Zoological Park�s Zoo Education Center.

At Miami, Geert DeVries, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Neuroendocrine Studies at the University of Massachusetts, will present �Sex Differences in the Brain: They�re Not What They Are Cracked Up to Be� at 4 p.m., Thursday, April 17, in 218 Pearson Hall. DeVries studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying sexual differentiation of vasopressin synthesis and release. He also studies the functional significance of sex differences in this hormone-sensitive system, focusing on its role in parental behavior.

Larry Young, associate professor of psychiatry at the Emory University School of Medicine, will present �Molecular Neurobiology of Social Bonding in Monogamous Rodents� at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 24, in 218 Pearson Hall. Young studies the molecular, cellular and systems level mechanisms underlying social behavior in voles, with a focus on social attachment. Research from his lab has demonstrated that a single gene inserted into the brain can change promiscuous male meadow voles into faithful, monogamous partners. The gene encodes a protein called the vasopressin receptor, which helps to regulate social behavior and pair bonding.

All lectures are free and open to the public. Animal Behavior Month events are sponsored by Miami�s departments of zoology and psychology and the Center for Animal Behavior and UC�s department of biological sciences. For more information contact Nancy Solomon at solomong@muohio.edu.