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Gregory M. Kohn

Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University-Bloomington 1101 E. 10th St., Bloomington, IN, 47405

(845) 702-8598 gmkohn@indiana.edu

Education

Ph.D., Psychology, 2015, Indiana University Bloomington, USA

Dissertation: “Social niche construction in brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater).” Supervisors: Meredith J. West & Andrew P. King MSc., Neuroscience and Cognition, 2009, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Theses: “Directed Social Learning in the Guppy (Poecilia reticulate)”, and “The influence of food type on the early development of personality in a natural population of Great Tits (Parus major)”

Supervisors: Simon Reader & Kees van Oers B.A., Zoology and Ecology, 2006, University of Montana, USA Academic Employment

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2017-current, Department of Biology, New Mexico State University Mentors: Timothy F. Wright Research: In some fission-fusion species, individuals learn contact calls from others in the group. Contact call learning may mediate social interactions across group changes, and allow individuals to signal affiliation across different social levels (from pairs to groups) and different individuals (from mates to novel individuals). My current research focuses on the mechanisms underlying contact call learning in Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus), a species that exhibits lifelong contact call learning. In particular, I am investigating how differential gene expression of FOXP2 within the brain shapes vocal learning of contact calls and social integration of individuals into budgerigar flocks. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2015-2016, Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Mentors: Meredith J. West & Andrew P. King

Research: I am investigating the social contributions to long-term developmental outcomes in both infants and birds. In birds, my research follows upon previous findings to explore relationships between the social networks surrounding individuals, behavioral consistency, and reproductive competence in brown-headed cowbirds and Northern bobwhite quail. In infants, I am investigating how the sequential structure of early interaction with caregivers predicts later communicative development.

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Visiting Research Assistant, 2006, Konrad Lorenz Research Station, Austria Mentors: Christine Schwab

Research: Participated in social learning experiments on jackdaws (Corvus monedula), and cognitive experiments on carrion crows (Corvus corone).

Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2005, Douglas Emlen’s Lab, University of Montana Mentors: Alex Trillo & Douglas Emlen

Research: Assisted with behavioral studies on sexual selection in tortoise beetles (Acromis sparsa).

Grants, Funding and Awards - Post-doctoral Fellowship, 2016, Training Program in Integrative Developmental Process,

Indiana University

- Travel Award, 2016, International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, ($400)

- Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DDIG) in the Directorate for Biological Sciences, 2013-2015, National Science Foundation, Indiana University ($13,000)

- Graduate Scholar Fellowship, 2014, Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Indiana University ($9,000)

- Pre-doctoral Fellowship, 2011-2013 Training Program in Integrative Developmental Process, Indiana University ($30,000)

- Best Poster Award, 2014, Conference for the International Society for Developmental

Psychobiology, Washington D.C. - Travel Award, 2014, International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, ($400) - Travel Award, 2013, International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, ($400) Peer Reviewed Publications

- Kohn, G. M. (under review). Temporal organization of social interaction networks across

fisson-fusion changes.

- Kohn, G. M. (under review). Familiarity preferences across changing social networks predict later reproductive output.

- van Oers, K., Kohn, G. M., Hinde, C. A., & Naguib, M., (2015). Parental food choice affects

the expression of personality in a natural bird population, Frontiers in Zoology, 12(1), 1.

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- Kohn, G. M., Meredith, G. R., Magdaleno, F. R., King, A. P., & West, M. J. (2015). Sex differences in familiarity preferences within fission-fusion brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) Flocks, Animal Behavior, 147 -153.

- Kohn, G. M., King, A. P., Pott, U. & West, M. J. (2013). Robust fall social displays predict spring reproductive behavior in brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater ater), Ethology, 511-521.

- Kohn, G. M., King, A. P., Dohme, R., Meredith, G. R. & West, M. J. (2013). Robust autumn social attributes predict spring courtship skills in juvenile female brown-headed cowbirds Molothrus ater, Animal Behaviour, 727-732.

- Kohn, G. M., King, A. P., Dohme, R., Meredith, G. R. & West, M. J. (2012). In the company

of cowbirds, Molothrus ater ater: Robust patterns of sociability predict reproductive performance, Journal of Comparative Psychology, 40-49.

- Kohn, G. M., King, A. P., Scherschel, L. L. & West, M. J. (2011). Social niches and sex

assortment: uncovering the developmental ecology of brown-headed cowbirds, Molothrus ater, Animal Behaviour, 1105-1022.

- West, M., King, A. & Kohn, G. (2011). Developmental Ecology: Platform for designing a communication system, Interaction Studies, 350-370.

Invited Talks - Kohn, G. M. (2016). Social organization, individual development & reproduction: The story of

the brown-headed cowbird, Presentation at Network Theory in Ornithology Symposium at the North American Ornithology Conference, Washington DC.

- Kohn, G. M. (2014). Social personality traits and niche picking: how individuals construct their social experience, Presentation at 21st Century Naturalists, a conference of the American Society of Naturalists, Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, CA.

- Kohn, G. M. (2014). Ontogeny of social skills in female brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), Topics in Animal Behavior Seminar, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

Selected Talks and Posters - Kohn, G. M. (2016). Social networks across fission-fusion changes: Temporal organization

and reproductive consequences, Presentation at the Animal Behavior Society Meeting, Columbia, Missouri.

- Kohn, G. M. (2014). Social preferences for familiar individuals in Brown-Headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater), across changing group conditions, Poster presentation at the Meeting for the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology.

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- Kohn, G. M. (2013). Sociability and the ontogeny of female courtship skills in Brown-Headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater), Presentation at the Animal Behavior Society Meeting, Boulder Colorado.

- Kohn, G. M. (2013). Sociability and the ontogeny of female courtship skills in Brown-Headed

Cowbirds (Molothrus ater), Presentation at the Meeting for the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology.

- Kohn, G. M., King, A. P., Scherschel, L. L. & West, M. J. (2011). Social niches and social

context: Uncovering the development of sociability in brown-headed cowbirds, Presentation at the Meeting for the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology.

- Kohn, G. M., King, A. P., Scherschel, L. L. & West, M. J. (2011). Social niches and sex assortment: Uncovering the developmental ecology of brown-headed cowbirds, Presentation at Behavior 2013 joint meeting of the Animal Behavior Society and International Ethological Council.

- Kohn, G. M., Reader, S., Bruce, M., (2008). Directed social learning from successful demonstrators in the guppy (Poecilla reticulate), Poster presentation at the Netherlands society for behavioral biology.

Teaching Experience

- PSY 101, Introduction to Psychology, Fall 2016, Indiana University, USA

- K300: Statistics for the Psychological Sciences, Spring 2016 & Fall 2016, Indiana University,

USA

- P211: Methods in Experimental Psychology, 2011, Indiana University, USA

- Behavioural Biology & Cognition and Behaviour, 2008, Utrecht University, Netherlands Mentoring Experience

- Rund. L. (2015-current), Social familiarly and female-female competition in brown-headed

cowbirds (Molothrus ater). IU Hutton Honors College Thesis

- Meredith, G. R. (2013-2015), Social integration and fission-fusion dynamics in Brown-headed Cowbirds. IU Hutton Honors College Thesis

- Allen, S. (2012), Social interaction networks in Brown-headed Cowbirds, Harmony High School, Senior honors project.

Supervised Research Assistants

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- Leah Scherschel, Tasha Zobel, Sabena Siddiqui, Matthew Harangody, Zac Hunsucker Other skills:

- Programming languages: R (both analysis and package design), Processing (Interactive data

visualization, agent based simulations), Arduino, Mathematica, Statnet (Social network analysis, matrix permutations, Social network visualization), SPIN (for programming propeller micro-controllers), Python

- Electronic design: Amtel, Pic, and Propeller microcontrollers, soldering, RFID sensor webs,

custom design of data loggers for ethological applications