Preferred email: kay.yellowtoad@gmail.com
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My dissertation research focuses on the effects of endocrine disrupting pesticides on male mating signals and behaviors of vertebrates. Certain groups of chemicals disrupt sex hormones, thereby inhibiting the proper development of sexually dimorphic characteristics and behaviors. In most vertebrate species, males display courtship behaviors and produce certain signals, which attract females, e.g. singing and brightly colored feathers in birds, vocalization in frogs and toads, etc. These mating behaviors and signals are hormonally regulated. Signals are reliable indicators of the bearer’s mate quality if there is a strong correlation between signal strength and measure of quality. My research examines how male guppies (a brightly colored tropical fish species) exposed to these chemicals during crucial developmental stages exhibit altered color patterns and courtship behaviors as adults, and the implications of these altered signals to reproductive success as well as signal reliability.