Ph.D., Texas A&M University, College Station, Biology, December 2011

Dissertation: The role of androgens in male pregnancy and female competitive behavior in a sex role reversed pipefish. (Co-chairs: Adam G. Jones, Gil G. Rosenthal)

M.S., University of Oklahoma, Norman, Zoology, August 2006

Thesis: Potential reproductive rate and female aggression in the sex-role reversed Gulf pipefish, Syngnathus scovelli. (Chair: Rosemary Knapp)

B.A., Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, Biology, May 1999 Honors: Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Major: Biology, Minor: Latin American Studies

I study the processes that mediate the unique behavioral and morphological adaptations in the fish Family Syngnathidae. In this unusual family, all species have male pregnancy where the male accepts eggs from the female(s) into a ventral pouch wherein the eggs are brooded. Species within the family exhibit a range of mating systems from monogamy to polyandry. Reproductive behavior can be conventional, as it is in seahorses, or sex-role reversed, as it is in many pipefish. This family is an exceptional group in which to study the evolution of mating systems, social behavior, and reproduction.

My research integrates physiology, behavior, and evolution. Previous studies have focused on the hormonal regulation of male pregnancy, the hormonal mediation of sex-role reversed intrasexual competitive behavior, and the evolution of mating systems.

Wilson AB, Whittington CM, Meyer A, Scobell SK, Gauthier ME. 2023. Prolactin and the evolution of male pregnancy. General and Comparative Endocrinology. 334:114210.

Verzijden MN, Scobell SK, Svensson EI. 2014. How experience influences the development of sexual behavior of males and females of the banded demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens). Behavioral Processes 109: 80-89.

Scobell SK and MacKenzie DS. 2011. Reproductive endocrinology of syngnathids. Journal of Fish Biology 78: 1662-1680.

Scobell SK, Fudickar AM^†, Knapp R. 2009. Potential reproductive rate of a sex-role reversed pipefish over several bouts of mating. Animal Behavior 78: 747–753.

Scobell SK. 2006. Potential reproductive rate and female aggression in the sex-role reversed Gulf pipefish, Syngnathus scovelli. University of Oklahoma.

^†Undergraduate Author