Brad Rence

I am first and foremost a behavioral physiologist.  Though my Ph.D. is in entomology, I am more interested in insects as ideal research subjects for behavioral physiological studies.  After working for two years as a technician in a pig-tailed macaque neurophysiology laboratory, I knew I could not work at that phylogenetic level--the problems were too complicated and the ethics of using such beasts too troublesome.  So, I see insects as the logical and practical compromise--they have a host of intriguing behaviors, their physiology is complicated enough to be interesting but they are cheap and easy to culture. The goal of most of my research projects is to understand the mechanistic basis of, most recently, pre-mating and reproductive behaviors. Recently, I have also tackled some more ecological problems, looking at the diversity of insect fauna of local restored and remnant prairies as indicators of their health, vitality, and sustainability.

Courses Offered:  Integrative Biology: Heterotrophs, Comparative Physiology, Animal Behavior, Endocrinology, Invertebrate Zoology, Coral Reef Environments (Marine Term), Tutorials on various topics.

Education:
PhD University of California, Berkeley