Jennifer Laura Verdolin
- Associate Professor of Practice, Natural Resources and the Environment
- Member of the Graduate Faculty
- (520) 621-7270
- Environment and Natural Res. 2, Rm. N216
- Tucson, AZ 85719
- verdolin@arizona.edu
Biography
JENNIFER L. VERDOLIN is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona and an expert in animal behavior. The author of two books, including Wild Connection: What Animal Courtship and Mating Tell Us About Human Relationships and Raised by Animals: The Surprising New Science of Animal Family Dynamics, she draws on animal behavior to reveal how much we can learn from other species to improve our relationships, families, and lives. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, NPR, Slate, The Washington Post, and National Geographic. Jennifer was a featured guest on the D.L. Hughley Show from 2014-2018 and is a frequent media guest on other radio and podcast shows. She enjoys engaging the public and speaks at places like the 92nd St Y and universities around the country. She also consults for television production companies in the US and abroad.
After graduating from Stony Brook University Verdolin began her career there as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow studying population genetics and behavior of mouse lemurs (2008-2010). She then went on to be a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center at Duke University (2010-2013). After taking a year off to complete her first book, she was a Visiting Lecturer at Duke University (2015). Presently she has an appointment at the University of Arizona and remains an Adjunct Professor at Duke University in the Biology Department. More about her research
Verdolin's first love is animals and she got her start at the Center for Great Apes where she volunteered for 6 years. It was there that she was inspired by the lives of individual chimpanzees and orangutans to pursue her career in animal behavior. She is an advocate for animal conservation and protection and her mission is to bridge the gap of understanding between ourselves and other species and reveal all that animals can teach us.
Degrees
- Ph.D. Ecology and Evolution
- Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States
- M.S. Biology
- Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
- B.S. Psychobiology
- Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, United States
Awards
- Fulbright Scholar
- Fulbright Association, Fall 2022
Interests
Research
Social and mating behavior, social network analysis, personality, conservation, ecological interactions
Teaching
Ecology, Behavior, Wildlife Conservation, Natural Resource Conservation, Management Practices, Science Communication, Field Ecology
Courses
2024-25 Courses
-
Principles of Ecotourism
RNR 240 (Spring 2025) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Culture
RNR 160D1 (Spring 2025) -
Principles of Ecotourism
RNR 240 (Fall 2024) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Culture
RNR 160D1 (Fall 2024)
2023-24 Courses
-
Internship
RNR 493 (Spring 2024) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Culture
RNR 160D1 (Spring 2024) -
Conservation of Natural Env
RNR 200 (Fall 2023) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Culture
RNR 160D1 (Fall 2023)
2022-23 Courses
-
Wildlife, Conserv, & Culture
RNR 160D1 (Summer I 2023) -
Conservation of Natural Env
RNR 200 (Spring 2023) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Culture
RNR 160D1 (Spring 2023) -
Conservation of Natural Env
RNR 200 (Fall 2022) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Culture
RNR 160D1 (Fall 2022)
2021-22 Courses
-
Wildlife Conservation Behavior
WFSC 447 (Summer I 2022) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Amer Cult
RNR 160D1 (Summer I 2022) -
Internship
RNR 393 (Spring 2022) -
Internship
RNR 493 (Spring 2022) -
Wildlife Conservation Behavior
WFSC 447 (Spring 2022) -
Wildlife Conservation Behavior
WFSC 547 (Spring 2022) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Amer Cult
RNR 160D1 (Spring 2022) -
Conservation of Natural Env
RNR 200 (Fall 2021) -
Internship
RNR 493 (Fall 2021) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Amer Cult
RNR 160D1 (Fall 2021)
2020-21 Courses
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Wildlife, Conserv, & Amer Cult
RNR 160D1 (Summer I 2021) -
Ecological Surveys & Sampling
RNR 321 (Spring 2021) -
Internship
RNR 393 (Spring 2021) -
Internship
RNR 493 (Spring 2021) -
Nat Res - Mgmt Practice
RNR 384 (Spring 2021) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Amer Cult
RNR 160D1 (Spring 2021) -
Ecological Surveys & Sampling
RNR 321 (Fall 2020) -
Internship
RNR 393 (Fall 2020) -
Nat Res - Mgmt Practice
RNR 384 (Fall 2020) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Amer Cult
RNR 160D1 (Fall 2020)
2019-20 Courses
-
Conservation of Natural Env
RNR 200 (Summer I 2020) -
Ecological Surveys & Sampling
RNR 321 (Spring 2020) -
Internship
RNR 393 (Spring 2020) -
Nat Res - Mgmt Practice
RNR 384 (Spring 2020) -
Wildlife Conservation Behavior
WFSC 447 (Spring 2020) -
Wildlife Conservation Behavior
WFSC 547 (Spring 2020) -
Ecological Surveys & Sampling
RNR 321 (Fall 2019) -
Internship
RNR 393 (Fall 2019) -
Internship
RNR 493 (Fall 2019) -
Renewable Nat Resources
RNR 696A (Fall 2019) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Amer Cult
RNR 160D1 (Fall 2019)
2018-19 Courses
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Conservation of Natural Env
RNR 200 (Summer I 2019) -
Conservation of Natural Env
RNR 200 (Spring 2019) -
Internship
RNR 393 (Spring 2019) -
Nat Res - Mgmt Practice
RNR 384 (Spring 2019) -
Nat Resources-Ecology
RNR 316 (Spring 2019) -
Nat Resources-Ecology
RNR 316 (Fall 2018) -
Sustainable Earth
RNR 150C1 (Fall 2018) -
Wildlife, Conserv, & Amer Cult
RNR 160D1 (Fall 2018)
2017-18 Courses
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Conservation of Natural Env
RNR 200 (Summer I 2018) -
Nat Res - Mgmt Practice
RNR 384 (Spring 2018)
2015-16 Courses
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Genetics
ECOL 320 (Summer I 2016)
Scholarly Contributions
Journals/Publications
- Verdolin, J. L. (2020). Girls can do that, too! First audio confirmation of female ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) howling.. International Primatological Society Congress.
- Verdolin, J. L. (2023).
Much Like Us: What Science Reveals about the Thoughts, Feelings, and
Behaviour of Animals, A Review.. Quarterly Review of Biology, 98(3), 184-184. - Verdolin, J. L., & Bledsoe, E. K. (2023). Snake Herders: Novel anti-predator behavior by black-tailed prairie dogs in response to prairie rattlesnakes. . Journal of Ethology, 6.
- Verdolin, J. L., Jordán, F., & Kovács, B. (2021). Resource availability influences global social network properties in Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni). Behaviour. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-bja10118
- Cromer, C. M., Paciulli, L., & Verdolin, J. L. (2019). Behavioral markers of stress in separated captive female and male ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta).. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 168, 51-51.
Presentations
- Verdolin, J. L. (2023, Fall). Integrating Wildlife, Conservation, and Agriculture into Education. NAAEGlobal Ag Network.More infoDeveloped and delivered an invited workshop
- Verdolin, J. L. (2022, Summer).
Snake Herders: Novel Cultural Adaptation to Prairie Rattlesnakes by Black-tailed Prairie Dogs,
. Animal Behavior Conference. San Jose, Costa Rica. - Verdolin, J. L. (2021, February). Finding Love and Raising Kids in the Wild. Mountain Lion Foundation Webinar Series. Zoom: Mountain Lion Foundation.
- Verdolin, J. L. (2019, April). Parenting in the Wild. Legacy Event. Hacienda Del Sol: Reid Park Zoo.
Poster Presentations
- Jackson, K., Ulrich, S., Colby, S., Jones, R., Verdolin, J. L., Peterson, E., & Carsella, J. (2021, August). Kiss and tell: Chemical communication during kissing in black-tailed prairie dogs. Animal Behaviour Conference 2021.. Animal Behaviour Conference. Online.
- Verdolin, J. L., Peterson, E., Colby, S., Robinson, N., Dudley, S., & Jones, R. (2021, August). The optimal prairie dog coterie identification method. Animal Behaviour Conference 2021. Animal Behaviour ConferenceAnimal Behaviour.
Reviews
- Verdolin, J. L. (2020. Humanimal: How Homo sapiens Became Na- ture’s Most Paradoxical Creature: A New Evo- lutionary History. A Review(p. 2).More infoInvited Book Review
Other Teaching Materials
- Verdolin, J. L. (2023. Where Have All the Butterflies Gone. . JMP Statistical Discovery..
Others
- Verdolin, J. L. (2018, December). Rituals. BBC Earth Podcast. https://www.bbcearth.com/podcast/
