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Jessica Nowicki

Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Interdisciplinary Scholar
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Biology

Dr. Nowicki studies the deep evolutionary history of vertebrate pair bonding neural mechanisms. She hopes to make a career of building a scientific and public appreciation for the extent to which pro-sociality and underlying mechanisms are shared across vertebrates.

Jessica is originally from southeastern Wisconsin (USA), where in 2008, she earned her Bachelors degree in Biology and Psychology from University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. In 2012, she earned her Graduate Diploma from James Cook University (JCU, Australia), where she studied the effects of ocean acidification and increased sea surface temperatures on the behaviour of coral reef fishes. In 2017, she was awarded her PhD from JCU, where she studied the adaptive and neural basis of pair bonding in coral reef butterflyfishes (f. Chaetodontidae). In 2018, she was awarded an Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Wu Tsai Neuroscience Institute at Stanford University. Under the co-supervision of Prof. Lauren O'Connell (primary), and Prof. Nirao Shah (co-sponsor), she studies the deep evolutionary history of vertebrate pair bonding neural mechanisms. She hopes to make a career of building a scientific and public appreciation for the extent to which pro-sociality and underlying mechanisms are shared across vertebrates.