Integrative Animal Behavior
Animal behavior is a dynamic discipline nourished by fields as varied as evolutionary biology, ecology, neurobiology, endocrinology, physiology, and molecular biology. We fuse mechanistic and evolutionary approaches to understand aggression, social dominance, sexual plasticity, social eavesdropping and mating behavior in a variety of freshwater, brackish, and marine fishes. We also strive to acheive a balance between field and laboratory work in attempts to understand more fully the selection pressures that might guide behavioral variation both within and among species, and the environmental conditions under which behavioral plasticity might thrive. Sites of field work include the mangrove ecosystems of Florida, the Caribbean, and Central America and the volcanic crater lakes of Nicaragua! On the flip side, we explore behavioral variation, and its mechanistic underpinnings, under controlled conditions in the laboratory. Our laboratory is a truly collaborative enterprise - undergraduates, graduate students, and Dr. Earley work together and with other laboratories in the USA and internationally towards the end of linking pieces of the behavioral jigsaw puzzle.
Information for Prospective Students
If you are interested in joining the Earley lab as a graduate student, click here. If you are interested in joining the Earley lab as an undergraduate student, click here.
Graduate student information, expectations, and timeline (very important information!) can be found by clicking this link.
Want to learn more about the Earley lab? Watch a video created by Megan Galaviz here.
Must read articles for prospective and current graduate and undergraduate research students (credit to the authors of these spectacular resources! #3-#8 were found on the website of Dr. Theodore Garland, Jr in the Department of Biology at UC-Riverside):
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9,
Prospective and current graduate students should check out this website, created by Erin Sweeney called Online Graduate Programs - Perspectives on Graduate Education. Also, check out this website created by a team of scientists to assist with your pursuit of a career in the sciences: Individual Development Plan. Lastly, for those of you interested in undergrad summer research opportunities, MS/PhD programs, or postdocs in fields related to the types of research we conduct in the Earley lab, visit EDEN. Enjoy!
Lab Information
Earley lab reading group is held weekly, and typically lasts between 1-2 hours: schedule and papers are available here.
Earley lab animal husbandry, ordering procedures, and field collection information is available here.
For a list of student grants, visit this website.
Lab News (scroll down!)
Image courtesy of Angela Earley (click to see more!)
May 2013: Incredible news! Mark Garcia National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant has been recommended for funding! Splendid job!
May 2013: Big time congratulations go out to Kristy Marson who secured an Alabama EPSCoR Graduate Research Scholars Program Fellowship!
April 2013: Congratulations to Alexandra Waits who landed a summer research fellowship position at the Greehey Childrens Cancer Research Institute!
April 2013: Congratulations to Mitchell Belue who was accepted into the Masters program in Microbiology at Alabama A&M!
April 2013: Congratulations to Ben Sinderman who was accepted to and will attend St. George Medical School in Grenada where he will pursue a dual MD/MBA degree (perhaps we can visit to collect some rivulus!!). Well done!
April 2013: Congratulations to Hannah Zahedi who was awarded the Edward H. Moseley Endowed Scholarship, which will support her upcoming trip to Nicaragua!
April 2013: Congratulations to Ricky Seeber (presenter) and the metabolism team (Hannah Zahedi, Luke Bishop, Connor Buckley, and Rose Cianfarani) for landing First Place for a platform presentation in the Emerging Scholars Science, Mathematics and Engineering division at the Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Conference!
April 2013: Congratulations to Annie Lenox (presenter) and the rivulus outcrossing team (Sarah White, Ryan James) for landing Honorable Mention in the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Conference!
April 2013: Congratulations to all Earley lab undergraduates who participated in the Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Conference! A feather in the cap for the 38 students who first-authored or co-authored 17 beautiful platform and poster presentations!
April 2013: Chelsea Raulerson has been accepted into, and will join, the graduate program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences at the University of North Carolina! Excellent news and congratulations!!
April 2013: Congratulations to Robertson Pearce, Chelsea Raulerson, Adrian Klein, and Jonathan Belanich for their nominations into the Phi Beta Kappa National Honors Society!
March 2013: Congratulations to Paula Adams whose achievement was recently recognized with the prestigious NOAA Office of Education Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship!
March 2013: Congratulations to Emily Duke who was honored with the James D. & Donjette Yarbrough Endowed Scholarship in recognition of her outstanding academic, research, and leadership potential!
March 2013: Mark Garcia was honored with a second-place finish for 4th year PhD students at the Annual Frontiers in Biology Research Colloquium. Job well done!
March 2013: Ryan Jones has been selected for the CoCo View dive internship in Honduras this summer! Nice work!
March 2013: Paula Adams has been accepted into the Bioinformatics and Computational Molecular Biology Undergraduate Summer Research Program at the University of Wyoming where she will work with Dr. Alex Buerkle! Congratulations!
March 2013: Congratulations to Robertson Pearce who has been selected as a recipient of the 2013 Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award!
March 2013: Congratulations to Ryan Jones who has been selected as a recipient of the 2013 Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award and who was awarded the Computer Based Honors Program Randall Scholarship!
February 2013: Congratulations to Alysha Broughton who was accepted into Culinary Management program at The Art Institute of St. Louis!
February 2013: Congratulations to Adrian Klein who was accepted into the University of Arkansas Medical School (Little Rock)! Bravo!
January 2013: Congratulations to Maggie Gray who was accepted into the University of Alabama Birmingham School of Dentistry! Well deserved!
January 2013: Congratulations to Sara Vaughn who was accepted into the Masters program in Environmental Studies at the College of Charleston (Department of Biology). Nice work!
December 2012: Congratulations to Mark Garcia who was awarded the Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research!
December 2012: Congratulations to Stephanie Robinson who was awarded the Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research!
November 2012: Congratulations to Michael Merck for landing a position at Cerner Corporation, where he'll pursue a career in the medical IT business (starting in Kansas City and then...hopefully...off to international endeavors)! Nice job!
November 2012: Congratulations to Robertson Pearce for being accepted into medical school at the University of Alabama Birmingham!
November 2012: Congratulations to Benjamin Sinderman and Robertson Pearce, who just published their first paper in the journal Behaviour entitled "He who dares wins only sometimes: physiological stress and contest behavior in Xiphophorus helleri" (this manuscript was published in collaboration with a team from the UK - Kay Boulton and Alastair Wilson)! Check it out here.
October 2012: Congratulations to Mark Garcia for being awarded first place in the oral presentation division of our 14th Annual Graduate Student Association Research Conference. Excellent job!
September 2012: Congratulations to Coulson Gray for being accepted into medical school at the University of South Alabama!
September 2012: Congratulations to Chelsea "Raulie" Raulerson for being named Honorable Mention for the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.
August 2012: Congratulations to Mark Garcia for successfully defending his Masters thesis on the fighting behavior of Anolis lizards! Nice work!
August 2012: Welcome to Stephanie Robinson, a new Masters student in the lab!
July 2012: Congratulations to Amanda Hanninen who successfully defended her Masters thesis and is now off to explore new avenues of research with Dr. Robert Cox at the University of Virginia!
July 2012: Alex Waits did an absolutely splendid job delivering a presentation at the annual Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Research Program symposum!
June 2012: Coulson Gray is awarded an Honors College research scholarship to travel to the University of Liege, Belgium in May 2013! Congratulations!
June 2012: The summer mangrove crew (Liz Lee, Molly Cook, Ryan Jones, Doc Earley, and special guest appearances by Mike Wells, D. Scott Taylor, Carole McIvor, and Louis The Dolphin) had a wild time in western Florida! Expected rivulus pull = 0, Observed rivulus pull = 60+! And an amazing time camping to boot!
May 2012: Congratulations to Mark Garcia, who just got a manuscript accepted to Ethology!!
May 2012: Mark Garcia and Adam Fuller pass their qualifying examinations - one more rite of passage ticked off!
May 2012: Congratulations to Liz Lee for a successful SciFund Challenge project!
May 2012: Congratulations to Liz Lee who was granted the American Society for Ichthyologists and Herpetologists 2012 Rainey Fund Award! Brava! See her profile here.
May 2012: SCUBA crew (Adam Fuller, Kristy Marson, Caleb Anderson, Alex Thompson, Molly Cook, and Ryan) witnessed some thrilling sunfish spawning, and loads of bass/sunfish babies hiding in the weeds at Pelham Quarry, AL! A spectacular 2 dives - quite the stress relief!
May 2012: Congratulations to Mitchell Belue who was accepted for a summer internship at the Birmingham Zoo studying elephant behavior!
April 2012: Kelly Weinersmith was awarded a 2012-2013 American Association of University Women fellowship. Congratulations!!
April 2012: Congratulations to Amy Schmitt who landed 1st place prize for poster presentations in the Emerging Scholars Division of the annual Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities conference!!
April 2012: Congratulations to Kay Rainey who landed 3rd place prize for oral presentations in the Division of Science and Mathematics at the annual Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities conference!!
April 2012: Congratulations to Benjamin Sinderman who earned honorable mention for oral presentations in the Division of Science and Mathematics at the annual Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities conference!!
April 2012: Congratulations to Sarah Griffin who landed 3rd place prize for poster presentations in the Division of Science and Mathematics at the annual Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities conference!!
April 2012: Congratulations to Kay Rainey, Sara Vaughn, Sarah Griffin, Amy Schmitt, Benjamin Sinderman, and Coulson Gray who all were finalists for best oral/poster presentation awards at the annual Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities conference!!
April 2012: Mitchell Belue, Tom Bertalan, Danielle Dutra, Coulson Gray, Sarah Griffin, Ryan Jones, Annie Lenox, Kay Rainey, Chelsea Raulerson, Stephanie Robinson, Amy Schmitt, Ben Sinderman, and Sara Vaughn delivered beautiful poster and oral presentations at the annual Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities conference!
April 2012: Congratulations to Jake Powers who has been admitted to the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine to pursue his DPM!
April 2012: Congratulations to Elizabeth Lee who received an Honorable Mention for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship!
April 2012: Congratulations to Tom Bertalan who has been awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue his PhD at Princeton!
March 2012: Congratulations to Tom Bertalan who has accepted a position as a PhD student in Princeton University's Chemical and Biological Engineering Department. Way to go!
March 2012: Congratulations to Amanda Hanninen who has accepted a position as a PhD student in the Department of Biology at the University of Virginia. Nice job!
March 2012: Congratulations to Alex Thompson who was selected to work as a research scientist and outreach volunteer for a sustainability program in Honduras this summer!
March 2012: Congratulations to Sara Vaughn who has secured a summer internship with NOAA in Charleston, South Carolina working with their Marine Mammal Stranding Network!
March 2012: Congratulations to Annie Lenox who has been accepted into the Huntsville Rural Pre-Medical Internship Program for the summer. This program is designed to allow students to experience rural primary care first hand!
March 2012: Congratulations to Ashley Bryant who landed a summer internship position at the Alaska Sealife Center, where she will assist with collecting/assaying blood and tissue samples from marine mammals and assist with strandings!
March 2012: Congratulations to Amanda Hanninen who won first prize in the Masters student category for her presentation at the 3rd Annual Frontiers in Biology Research Colloquium!
March 2012: Congratulations to Kay Rainey who has been selected as a recipient of the 2012 Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award!
March 2012: Congratulations to Tom Bertalan who has been selected as a recipient of the 2012 Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award!
March 2012: Congratulations to Jake Powers who has been selected as a recipient of the 2012 Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award!
March 2012: Congratulations to Kelly Weinersmith who has received a Graduate Research Award in Ecology!
March 2012: Congratulations to Emily Duke who has received two scholarships to participate in the Coastal Marine Education and Research Association internship program.
February 2012: Congratulations to Matthew May who has been accepted into medical school at the University of Alabama Birmingham - excellent work!!
February 2012: Congratulations to Sara Vaughn for receiving the James D. and Donjette Yarbrough Scholarship for leadership, academic excellence, and character!
January 2012: Congratulations to Mark Garcia - this year's recipient of the Inge and Ilouise Hill Fellowship for excellence in research and teaching!
January 2012: Congratulations to Tom Bertalan for landing interviews for graduate programs at Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Texas at Austin, and Vanderbilt University (wow!!).
January 2012: Congratulations to Candice Hovell for her acceptance into the graduate program at Georgia Institute of Technology!
January 2012: Congrats to grad students Mark Garcia, Amanda Hanninen, Adam Fuller, Liz Lee, Shane Stanley, and Michael Cotrone for delivering beautiful presentations at this year's Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology meeting, which featured a symposium on the mangrove rivulus!
August 2011: Welcome Kristy Marson, a new PhD student in the lab and Caleb Anderson, a new Masters student in the lab!
December 2011: Congratulations to Alexandra Waits for being selected as a 2012 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergradate Research Scholar!
December 2011: Congratulations to Ryan Jones who was accepted to participate in the University of Florida's 9th Annual Marine Resources Population Dynamics Workshop, which will be held at the Mote Tropical Research Lab on Summerland Key from March 4-10th!
November 2011: Congratulations to Boopathy Sivaraman for successfully defending his Masters thesis!
October 2011: Muchos congratulations to Kay Rainey who has been accepted to medical school at the University of Alabama Birmingham! Nice work! Well deserved!
August 2011: Ryan heads out with Benjamin Perlman and a group from Wake Forest University for another rivulus collecting trip - this time in beautiful Belize (Long Caye and Sandbore Key!). Crocs, mosquitoes, and biting ants only livened up a wildly successful trip!
July 2011: Mark Garcia, Adam Fuller, Amanda Hanninen, and Ryan present at the Joint Meeting of the International Ethological Conference and Animal Behavior Society held at Indiana University.
July 2011: Annie Lennox, Josh Aquino, and Will Payne complete the HHMI summer research program with beautiful posters at the end-of-term symposium.
June 2011: Amanda Hanninen, Mark Garcia and Ryan finish a wildly successful rivulus collecting trip in the Florida Keys in collaboration with Yuying Hsu and her two students (Ching Chang and Yuyun Huang) and Benjamin Perlman, a PhD student in the laboratory of Miriam Ashley-Ross at Wake Forest University.
June 2011: Ryan becomes a Review Editor for the journal Frontiers in Aquatic Physiology.
May 2011: Congratulations to Gabriell Davis who has been accepted to the Masters Program in the Department of Biology at the University of Mississippi to work with Dr. Christopher Leary!
May 2011: Stephanie Robinson and Matthew Honkanen are off to participate in a Tropical Plant Diversity studies abroad program under the direction of Dr. John Clark!
May 2011: Ryan becomes an Associate Editor for the journal Behaviour.
April 2011: Amanda Hanninen has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship! Thrilling!
April 2011: Elizabeth Lee and Griff Hall were finalists for Best Poster Presentation in the Natural Sciences at the 2011 University of Alabama Undergraduate Research Conference!
April 2011: Chelsea Raulerson was a finalist and won third place for Best Poster Presentation in the Natural Sciences at the 2011 University of Alabama Undergraduate Research Conference!
April 2011: Kay Rainey, Elizabeth Lee, Tom Bertalan, Griffin Hall, Jake Powers, Chelsea Raulerson, Robertson Pearce, Alexander Thompson, Matthew May, Richard Morris, Dan Whittelsey, and Candice Hovell presented poster and platform presentations at the 2011 University of Alabama Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities Conference.
April 2011: Chelsea Raulerson has been awarded a Department of Biological Sciences Michael L. McDaniel Memorial Scholarship for academic excellence.
March 2011: Matthew May has received the prestigious 2011 Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award, which recognizes the University of Alabama's best research activity by an undergraduate. Bravo!
March 2011: Congratulations to Elizabeth Lee who has been accepted to the University of Central Florida Professional Science Masters in Conservation Biology Program and to the University of Alabama Biological Sciences Masters Program!
March 2011: Congratulations to Ian Kimbrough who has been accepted to, and will attend, the University of Alabama Birmingham Medical School Neuroscience Ph.D. Program!
March 2011: Congratulations to Susanna Tubbs who has been accepted to, and will attend, the University of Alabama Birmingham School of Medicine!
March 2011: Congratulations to Alexander Thompson who has been accepted to a Summer Studies in Marine Ecology course in the Bahamas for Summer 2011!
March 2011: Congratulations to Mark Nuttall who will attend the University of Alabama Birmingham School of Dentistry!
February 2011: Congratulations to Richard Morris who has been accepted to, and will attend, the University of Alabama Birmingham School of Dentistry!
January 2011: Mark Garcia (Ph.D. student) is the recipient of the 2011 University of Alabama, Department of Biological Sciences Graham Prize for excellence in research and teaching!
January 2011: Congratulations to Kyle Zigelsky who has been accepted to, and will attend, the Yale University Physician Assistant Program. Well deserved!
January 2011: Grad students and Doc Earley present at the 2011 Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology conference in Salt Lake City, UT.
January 2011: Welcome Amanda Hanninen - a new Masters student in the Earley lab!
December 2010: Annie Lennox & Joshua Aquino are accepted as 2011 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Research Fellows!
December 2010: Congraulations to Lana Stuart for earning her baccalaureate degree!
October 2010: Amanda Hanninen & Ryan Earley are awarded a Fisheries Society of the British Isles grant entitled Metabolic and endocrine plasticity in response to environmental stressors in the 'clonal' mangrove killifish!
August 2010: Adam Fuller & Ryan Earley are awarded a Section 6 (Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund) grant entitled A behavioral approach to understanding population fragmentation of bluenose shiners (Pteronotropis welaka) in Alabama!
August 2010: Welcome Shane Stanley - a LSAMP Bridge to Doctorate Ph.D. Student!
July 2010: Amanda Hanninen, Candice Hovell, and Sherry Le developed fantastic posters for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute symposium, marking a tremendously productive summer research program!
June 2010: Adam Zelickson (post-bacc) has been accepted and will attend medical school at the University of Alabama Birmingham beginning Fall 2010!
June 2010: Alumnus Erin Roberts has been accepted and will attend the Charlotte School of Law beginning Fall 2010!
May 2010: Matthew May (undergraduate) is accepted into University of Alabama Birmingham's Summer Health Enrichment Program!
May 2010: Undergrads Kyle Zigelsky, Jake Turner, Carrie Smith, Roper Elrod, Megan Galaviz, Susanna Tubbs, Andrea Murrell, Sherry Le, Ben Brown, and Jimmy Wymer have earned their baccalaureate degrees...Congratulations!!
April 2010: Boopathy Sivaraman (Masters student) receives a Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid!
April 2010: Megan Galaviz (undergraduate) lands a 6-month Animal Behavior Professional Internship at Disney World's Animal Kingdom!!
April 2010: Amanda Hanninen (undergraduate) is a finalist for Best Poster Presentation - Natural Sciences at UA's annual Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities Conference.
April 2010: Undergraduates Matthew May, Amanda Hanninen, Candice Hovell, Josh Aquino and post-baccalaureate Adam Zelickson deliver fantastic presentations at the annual Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities Conference at the University of Alabama.
March 2010: Boopathy Sivaraman (Masters Student) wins the Grand Prize for platform presentations in the Natural Sciences at the 13th Annual Research & Thesis Conference at the University of Alabama.
March 2010: Stephanie Wong (Ph.D. Student), Mark Garcia (Masters Student), and Boopathy Sivaraman (Masters student) deliver presentations at the 13th Annual Research & Thesis Conference at the University of Alabama.
March 2010: Kelly Weinersmith (Ph.D. Student, University of California, Davis) visits the lab to refine her hormone collection/analysis technique and to train our eyes in parasite detection!
March 2010: Cheng-Yu Li, and Shu-Ping Huang finish their monstrous gene expression experiment and, sadly, return to National Taiwan Normal University (will they be back? Stay tuned..).
March 2010: Nicaragua crew (Stephanie Wong, Adam Fuller, Kyle Zigelsky & Doc Earley) returns from Lake Xiloa research expedition 90% unscathed, after 67 dives, 187 behavioral observations, and some nifty tricks with a lift bag.
March 2010: Amanda Hanninen (undergraduate student) is accepted into the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Research Internship Program!
March 2010: Candice Hovell (undergraduate student) is accepted into the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Research Internship Program!
March 2010: Sherry Le (undergraduate student) is accepted into the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Research Internship Program!
March 2010: Stephanie Wong, Adam Fuller (Ph.D. students) & Kyle Zigelsky (undergraduate student) are about to embark with Dr. Earley on a research diving trip to Lakes Xiloa and Apoyo in western Nicaragua to search for convict cichlids and evaluate their field ecology and behavior.
March 2010: Megan Galaviz (undergraduate student) has won first prize in the Capstone Creed Week photo contest at UA!
February 2010: Kyle Zigelsky (undergraduate student) is awarded a research scholarship through the Honors College at UA!
February 2010: Boopathy Sivaraman (Masters student) receives the Inge and Ilouise Hill Research Fellowship!
January 2010: Adam Fuller (Ph.D. student) receives a Birmingham Audubon Society Walter F. Coxe Research Fund award!
January 2010: Stephanie Wong (Ph.D. student) receives a Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid!
December 2009: Amanda Hanninen, Matthew May, Mark Nuttall, and Kyle Zigelsky (undergraduate students) embark on a mini-internship at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in collaboration with Dr. David Mitchell and Dr. Andre Fernandez!
November 2009: Boopathy Sivaraman (Masters student) is accepted in the PharmD Program at the Harrison School of Pharmacy - Auburn University!
December 2009: Jake Turner (undergraduate student) is accepted in the School of Dentistry at University of Alabama, Birmingham!
December 2009: Carrie Smith (undergraduate student) is accepted in the School of Optometry at University of Alabama, Birmingham!
July 2009: Sarah Kennedy (undergraduate student) is accepted in the Masters of Biotechnology program at the University of Alabama Birmingham!
June 2009: Boopathy Sivaraman (Masters student) is elected forum convener by the graduate students in the Department of Biological Sciences.
June 2009: Mark Garcia (Masters student) & Stephanie Wong (Ph.D. student) participate in the Champalimaud Foundation Neuroscience Program Symposium on Social Modulation of Behavior; Lisbon, Portugal
May 2009: Stephanie Wong (Ph.D. student) is awarded the Graduate Council Fellowship at the University of Alabama
May 2009: Jake Turner (undergraduate student) earns the Dauphin Island Sea Lab Undergraduate Research Internship to conduct lab and field work at the Weeks Bay, Alabama, National Estuarine Research Reserve under the direction of Dr. Behzad Mortazavi
Surf the page to see what our undergraduate and graduate students are up to. You'll also find more detailed descriptions of the projects currently under way!
The website should, with any luck, be fully functional sometime soon. Come back to visit! Last updated July 11, 2012.