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Illinois IGB

Alison Bell

Cluster hires facilitate long-term institutional success

November 15, 2022

In light of long-standing inequities in STEM representation, many universities are now recognizing the value of diversity in higher education. Achieving such diversity involves creating an inclusive campus that welcomes scholars from different backgrounds, not only to foster a healthy intellectual environment, but also to provide role models to aspiring students. Faculty cluster hiring is an emerging practice in higher education, involving cross-campus collaborations to hire faculty working on interdisciplinary research topics.


November 15, 2022


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Can parental care influence sperm-mediated effects in threespine sticklebacks?

October 11, 2021

Animals can influence their offspring through multiple signals starting from fertilization to after birth. However, researchers have seldom looked at how these different signals work together to influence behavior. In a new study, postdoctoral researcher Jennifer Hellmann in the Bell lab investigated how changes in sperm and paternal care influence the offspring of threespine sticklebacks.


October 11, 2021


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Alison Bell to Assume Leadership of IGB Research Theme

April 9, 2020

Professor of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior Alison Bell will be assuming leadership of the Gene Networks in Neural & Developmental Plasticity (GNDP) research theme at the IGB. Bell will succeed Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Lisa Stubbs, who has accepted a position at Pacific Northwest Research Institute.


April 9, 2020


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Fish fathers exhibit signatures of “baby brain” that may aid parental behavior

September 26, 2019

Many new parents are familiar with terms like “baby brain” or “mommy brain” that hint at an unavoidable decline in cognitive function associated with the hormonal changes of pregnancy, childbirth, and maternal caregiving. A new study of parental care in stickleback fish is a reminder that such parenting-induced changes in the brain and associated shifts in cognition and behavior are not just for females—and they’re not just for mammals either.


September 26, 2019


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In responding to predation risk, secondhand experience can be as good as new

July 9, 2018

Throughout the living world, parents have many ways of gifting their offspring with information they will need to help them survive. A new study in Nature Ecology and Evolution examining the effects of exposure to predators across two generations of stickleback fish yielded a surprising insight into how such transgenerational information is used.


July 9, 2018


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New grant to study fish genomics, behavior

July 1, 2017

The three-spined stickleback is a funny sort of a fish. They’re somewhat non-distinct: drabbish silver, small, and minnow-like, native to salt- and freshwater bodies throughout most of the Northern hemisphere. However, different stickleback populations have evolved very distinct morphological traits, demonstrating a natural diversity that makes them an ideal candidate in which to examine the mechanics of adaptive evolution and ecology.


July 1, 2017


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Male Stickleback Fish Influence Offspring Behavior, Gene Expression

October 1, 2014

Researchers report that some stickleback fish fathers can have long-term effects on the behavior of their offspring: The most attentive fish dads cause their offspring to behave in a way that makes them less susceptible to predators. These behavioral changes are accompanied by changes in gene expression, the researchers report.

The findings appear in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.


October 1, 2014


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Study tracks brain gene response to territorial aggression

November 15, 2012

With a mate and a nest to protect, the male threespined stickleback is a fierce fish, chasing and biting other males until they go away.

Now researchers are mapping the genetic underpinnings of the stickleback’s aggressive behavior. Armed with tools that allow them to see which genes are activated or deactivated in response to social encounters, a team from the University of Illinois has identified broad patterns of gene activity that correspond to aggression in this fish.

A paper describing their work appears in the Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences.


November 15, 2012


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