Mary T. Mendonca Vice Chair

My research centers on how proximate environmental factors and physiological mechanisms are integrated at the neural level to control reproduction in a variety of vertebrates.

The following are projects underway in my laboratory:

• Neuroendocrine control of reproduction in the big brown bat
• The effects of relocation and burrow collapse on immunocompetence and stress responsiveness in the gopher tortoise
• The effects of environmental endocrine disruptors in populations of amphibians and freshwater turtles
• Patterns and effects of yolk hormone deposition in birds
• Physiological effects of dietary carotenoid intake on birds with carotenoid-based plumage ornamentation
• Sexual differentiation, hormones, and behavior in salamanders
• Latitudinal differences in stress responsiveness in amphibians
• Mechanisms of sex ratio adjustment in the zebra finch

My research centers on how proximate environmental parameters and physiological mechanisms are integrated at the neural level to control timing of seasonal reproduction in a variety of vertebates, primarily amphibians and reptiles. Recent research in my laboratory has extended to the effects of environmental endocrine disruptors on reproductive physiology and behavior. Additionally, I examine neuroanatomical and neuroendocrine correlates of different states on morphs of sexual behavior in males and females.

Research Interests

• Reproductive and Stress Biology Neuroendocrinology
• Bat Behavioral Ecology
• Ecotoxicology
• Herpetology
• Physiological Ecology
• Ecological Immunology