Melanie G. Kimball, PhD
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melkimball.bsky.social
Melanie G. Kimball, PhD
@melkimball.bsky.social
24 followers 39 following 0 posts
Postdoc at UC Davis studying bumblebee cognition
Animal behavior enthusiast 🐝🐦
she/her
melaniekimball.com
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Reposted by Melanie G. Kimball, PhD
clattin.bsky.social
It was thrilling to be involved in this multi-site, multi-bird @themanybirds.bsky.social project out today in @plosbiology.org! We examined why some bird species show more novelty avoidance than others; 2 big predictors were a specialist diet & migratory behavior: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...
A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia
Neophobia (the aversive response to novelty) varies considerably across species and individuals, and can impact adaptability and survival. This study assesses neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 bird ...
dx.plos.org
October 14, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Melanie G. Kimball, PhD
clattin.bsky.social
We previously showed corticosterone is involved in neophobia (novelty avoidance) in house sparrows; my students @marquisehenry.bsky.social & Melanie Kimball's new paper found this effect does not appear to be mediated via low-affinity glucocorticoid receptors: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/NMYI9B...
Survival curves of sparrows' latency to feed in the presence of novel objects with and without injections of a vehicle control (top graph) or the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU486 (bottom graph). There was no difference between weeks or treatments, suggesting the effects of corticosterone on neophobia that we previously observed are mediated via a different physiological mechanism.
April 21, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by Melanie G. Kimball, PhD
clattin.bsky.social
A new paper from the lab led by Blake Dusang & @marquisehenry.bsky.social builds on past work & finds not all "neophobia" tests measure the same trait. Specifically, responses to novel objects & novel environments were not consistent within individuals: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
This image gives the background for the Dusang and Henry 2025 paper. The image reads: "Neophobia is often evaluated in only one context. Assumed that an animal's response to one type of novel stimulus is consistent with another". There are three images, one of a food dish with yellow coiled pipe cleaners with the label "novel objects," one of a house sparrow taking a potato chip from a bowl with the label "novel foods," and one of a city landscape with office towers with the label "novel environments." Double-headed arrows connect all three images.
May 25, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Reposted by Melanie G. Kimball, PhD
clattin.bsky.social
The lab was recognized for outstanding research & teaching at this year's @lsuscience.bsky.social awards! Danna Masri won the Undergraduate Research Award from @lsubiosci.bsky.social, former PhD student Melanie Kimball the Distinguished Dissertation Award, & I received a Graduate Teaching Award ❤️
Undergraduate Danna Masri receives the Undergraduate Teaching Award from the LSU Department of Biological Sciences and Dr. Christine Lattin receives the Graduate Teaching Award from the LSU College of Science.
May 28, 2025 at 9:37 PM