Biology graduate, Meghan Strange, publishes thesis in the Journal of Experimental Biology, earning the cover photo.
Meghan S. Strange, M.S. ’15, recently published her thesis work in the Journal of Experimental Zoology (Strange, M.S., R.M. Bowden, C.F. Thompson, and S.K. Sakaluk. 2016. Pre- and postnatal effects of corticosterone on fitness-related traits and the timing of endogenous corticosterone production in a songbird. J. Exp. Zool. 325A: 347-359).
Her study was featured on the journal’s cover, with a photograph of her study species, the house wren. Strange tested two hypotheses concerning the fitness-related consequences of experimentally elevated corticosterone (the avian ‘stress’ hormone) during pre- and post-natal development in house wrens. She also documented the ontogeny of the stress response in nestlings.
Her results demonstrate that pre-natal exposure in the egg to maternal corticosterone is important in shaping offspring phenotype and long-term fitness.
