The Ethogram was founded in 2014 by graduate students Katrina Brock, Emily Burke, Grace Davis, Sean Ehlman, Kelly Finn, Aaron Haiman, Ryane Logsdon, Tez Stair, and Eric Van Cleave. While The Ethogram has evolved and expanded over the years, we hold the original intentions of our founders: making scientific topics and findings more accessible to non-scientists through articles, videos, and other multimedia communication.

Jessica (she/her) is interested in the evolution of mating systems and studies how organisms’ environment and interactions influence their reproductive behavior.  Her research spans species from shorebirds in the Sierra Nevada to marine invertebrates in the tropical rocky intertidal.  Jessica is also passionate about education and served as program coordinator for an intertidal citizen science project for K12 students in Hawaiʻi.  She is currently a PhD candidate in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group at UC Davis.

• Editor-in-Chief (Spring 2022 – Present)
• Education & Outreach Coordinator (Spring 2020 – Present)
• Creature Feature Editor (Fall 2019 – Winter 2021) 
• Animal Behavior Society Outreach Grant co-author (Fall 2019)
• Writer / Contributor (Fall 2019 – Present)

Isabelle (she/her) is an animal behavior PhD candidate and a part of the Center for Animal Welfare at UC Davis. She currently studies the abnormal behaviors of dairy cattle, and how abnormal behaviors are related to animal welfare. Isabelle is also interested in teaching and mentorship of students of all ages. When she’s not working with her cows, she enjoys spending time with her dog, reading, and watching scary movies.

• News Room Editor (Winter 2023 – Present)
• Sunday Sketch Editor (Fall 2021 – Present)
• Social Media Coordinator (2020 – Present)
• Writer / Contributor (Fall 2020 – Present)

Jacob (he/him) is an Animal Behavior PhD student interested in how animals use different behavioral strategies to cope with unusual and/or harsh environments. His research projects feature work in wildfire-affected areas with Dark-eyed Juncos, cityscapes with Black Phoebes, and in the lab with Wolf Spiders and Carpenter Bees. He is also an active science communicator in a wide array of media and moonlights as a jazz saxophonist in his free time

• Creature Feature Editor (Winter 2023 – Present)
• Writer / Contributor (Fall 2020 – Present)

Abby (she/her) is a PhD student in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group .

• Science Heroes Editor (Winter 2023 – Present)
• Writer / Contributor (Winter 2023 – Present)

Sabrina (she/her) is a PhD Candidate in the Animal Behavior program. She is in Dr. Bales’ lab where she studies the neurobiology and epigenetics of pair bond formation and maintenance in seahorses and prairie voles. She currently is interested in the behaviors that are involved in pair bonding and what underlying mechanisms drive this interesting and uncommon mating strategy. When she’s not in the lab, she loves fostering kittens, hiking, and playing video games

• Science & Culture Editor (Fall 2021 – Present)
• Writer / Contributor (Summer 2020 – Present)

Nicole (she/her) is a graduate student in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group at UC Davis. She’s interested in the dynamics of social insect colonies, specifically in collective decision-making and the self-organization of complex behaviors.

• Young Explorers Editor (Fall 2020 – Present)
• Education & Outreach Contributor (Fall 2020 – Present)
• Writer / Contributor (Fall 2019 – Present)

Cassidy (she/her) is interested in how variable, dynamic environments drive plastic physiological responses and further how those changes will influence ongoing environmental interactions. She is a graduate student in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group at UC Davis, and Cassidy is currently investigating how factors such as temperature and energetic state affect the performance of California native species including Chinook Salmon.

• Education & Outreach Contributor (Fall 2020 – Present)
• Field Notes Editor (Winter 2023 – Present)

Ian is an aspiring behavioral ecologist who loves California biodiversity! He works with wild birds in the Sacramento Valley and is interested in how exposure to all-too-common environmental pollutants impacts their behavior and physiology. Ian is also deeply passionate about community science and outreach, and he has made many wonderful connections with young scientists as a a director of InterAxon at UCLA and as a camp counselor for the San Diego Natural History Museum.

• Field Frames Editor (Winter 2023 – Present)
• Writer / Contributor

Josie (she/her) is interested in how primates respond to changing environments and how anthropogenic influences may affect their behavior. She is particularly interested in the effects of crop-raiding, ecotourism, shared land use, and disease transmission in several species of macaques in Central and Southeast Asia.

• Field Notes Editor (Winter 2021 – Winter 2023)
• Field Frames Editor (Winter 2021 – Winter 2023) 
• Field Fiasco Editor (Winter 2018)
• Newsroom Editor (Summer 2019, Spring 2020)
• Writer / Contributor (Fall 2017 – Present)

Maggie (she/her) is in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group and a part of the UC Davis Center for Animal Welfare.  She is interested in assessing beef cattle behavior and how it influences grazing distribution on extensive rangelands.

• Field Notes Editor (Fall 2018 – Winter 2023)
• Field Frames Editor (Fall 2018 – Winter 2023)
• Writer / Contributor (Spring 2018 – Present)

Meredith (she/her) is interested in the interplay between social behavior and conservation. Previously, she studied the evolutionary function of play behavior in several species of monkeys. Currently, she studies the nature and drivers of seasonal social network plasticity, focusing on several species of lemurs (primates from Madagascar).

• Creature Feature Editor (Spring 2020 – Fall 2022)
• Young Explorers Editor (Spring 2020 – Fall 2020)
• Newsroom Editor (Spring 2019 – Summer 2019, Spring 2020 – Summer 2020)
• Field Notes Editor (Fall 2017 – Spring 2018)
• Field Frames Editor (Fall 2017 – Spring 2018)
• Writer / Contributor (Fall 2017 – Present)

Bidisha is a graduate student in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group at UC Davis and currently manages the social media for The Ethogram. She is interested in exploring social behavior across anthropogenic-natural gradients. Her current research focuses on the drivers of nonhuman primate aggregations and between-group conflict in urban areas, with implications for the management of synanthropic animals and mitigating human-animal conflict. If you are ever interested in chatting about monkeys, coffee or K-pop, look no further!

• Social Media Coordinator (2019 – Present)
• Writer / Contributor (2020 – Present)

Allison (she/her) is a graduate student in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group who studies monogamy in non-human primates. Her current research focuses on coppery titi monkey duet vocalizations as a reinforcer of pair-bonding, but she has worked with gibbons, rhesus macaques, and baboons previously.

• Editors-in-Chief (Spring 2021 – Spring 2022)
• Science & Culture Editor (Fall 2017 – Fall 2021)
• Sunday Sketch Editor (Fall 2017 – Fall 2018)
• Writer / Contributor (Fall 2017 – Present)

Karli (she/her) is a graduate student in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group. She is interested in conservation management and assessing animal welfare in wildlife rehabilitation settings. Her current research examines how we can use behavioral management interventions, such as environmental enrichment, to improve reintroduction success with pinnipeds. She is an avid supporter of all things science communication and believes that science should be accessible and inclusive for everyone.

• Editors-in-Chief (Spring 2021 – Spring 2022)
• Science Heroes Editor (Fall 2020 – Present)
• Field Notes Editor (Spring 2018 – Winter 2021)
• Field Frames Editor (Spring 2018 – Winter 2021) 
• Writer / Contributor (Winter 2018 – Present)

Alex (she/her) studies the effect of environmental factors on threatened marine species, including sharks and salmon, As a graduate student in Animal Behavior at UC Davis, she explores how temperature, food availability, and other forces (such as current flow) affect physiology (how an animal’s body operates), movement, and distribution at a large scale.

• Editor-in-Chief (Fall 2017 – Spring 2021)
• Writer / Contributor (Fall 2017 – Present)