Kathleen Munley, PhD

Area of Study / Keywords

Animal Behavior Cichlid Fishes Endocrinology Neuroscience Seasonal Biology

---

About

Broadly, I am interested in how environmental context, including social and seasonal cues, is integrated via the brain and endocrine system to drive adaptive social behavior. My early research focused on studying physiological responses to environmental stressors in aquatic animals. I received my B.S. in Marine Biology and B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Miami, where I investigated how chronic lead exposure impacts life-history traits of great pond snails (Lymnaea stagnalis) in the lab of Martin Grosell. Then, I investigated how variation in osmotic physiology is linked with salinity stress tolerance in killifish (Fundulus sp.) as a graduate student in the lab of Fernando Galvez at Louisiana State University. Here, I took my first courses in behavioral neuroscience and neuroethology and became fascinated by how hormones control the brain and behavior. I received my Ph.D. in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior from Indiana University, where I studied how the hormone melatonin regulates seasonal aggression in Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) in the lab of Greg Demas. I am currently finishing a National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) F32 NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California Los Angeles, where I am studying the neural and molecular regulation of subordinate social status by androgens in the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni in the lab of Beau Alward. I am thrilled to join the Department of Psychology at the University of Alberta as an Assistant Professor in July 2025.

---

Research

The Seasonal and Social Neuroendocrinology (SeaSoN) Lab uses a comparative framework to study the social and seasonal regulation of behavioral plasticity in dominance hierarchies of African and Neotropical cichlid fishes. Our lab addresses these questions using a suite of genetic, molecular, endocrine, and behavioral tools, including transcriptomics, neuroanatomy, metabolomics, gene editing, and dynamic behavioral paradigms.

I am seeking 2-3 graduate students (M.S. or Ph.D. track) to join the SeaSoN Lab in Fall 2025 or later. See the Join Us page on the lab website for more information!

Kathleen M. Munley

Learning & Behavior. 2024 September; 10.3758/s13420-024-00649-w

---

Kathleen M. Munley, Andrew P. Hoadley, Beau A. Alward

General and Comparative Endocrinology. 2024 February; 10.1016/j.ygcen.2023.114436

---

Kristina O. Smiley, Kathleen M. Munley, Krisha Aghi, Sara E. Lipshutz, Tessa M. Patton, Devaleena S. Pradhan, Tessa K. Solomon-Lane, Simón(e) D. Sun

Hormones and Behavior. 2024 January; 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105445

---

Gregory Demas, Kathleen M. Munley, Aaron Jasnow

Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2023 December; 10.1016/j.tem.2023.08.015

---

Kathleen M. Munley, Beau Alward

Molecular Psychology: Brain, Behavior, and Society. 2023 September; 10.12688/molpsychol.17571.1

---

Kathleen M. Munley, David M. Sinkiewicz, Sydney M. Szwed, Gregory E. Demas

Hormones and Behavior. 2023 August; 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105390

---

Kathleen M. Munley, Yuqi Han, Matt X. Lansing, Gregory Demas

Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology. 2022 December; 10.1002/jez.2601

---

Kathleen M. Munley, Jonathan Trinidad, Gregory Demas

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2022 September; 10.1098/rspb.2022.0668

---

Kathleen M. Munley, Kristina L. Wade, Devaleena S. Pradhan

Hormones and Behavior. 2022 June; 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105161

---

Kathleen M. Munley, Sohini Dutta, Aaron M. Jasnow, Gregory E. Demas

Hormones and Behavior. 2022 February; 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2021.105099

---

Kathleen M. Munley, Jonathan Trinidad, Jessica E. Deyoe, Catherine H. Adaniya, Andrea M. Nowakowski, Clarissa C. Ren, Grace V. Murphy, John M. Reinhart, Gregory Demas

Journal of Neuroendocrinology. 2021 March; 10.1111/jne.12940

---

Nikki M. Rendon, Christopher L. Petersen, Kathleen M. Munley, Andrea C. Amez, Daniel L. Boyes, Marcy A. Kingsbury, Gregory Demas

Journal of Neuroendocrinology. 2020 August; 10.1111/jne.12894

---

Clarissa C. Ren, Kristyn E. Sylvia, Kathleen M. Munley, Jessica E. Deyoe, Sarah G. Henderson, Michael P. Vu, Gregory E. Demas

The Journal of Experimental Biology. 2019 December; 10.1242/jeb.212548

---

Kathleen M. Munley, Jessica E. Deyoe, Clarissa C. Ren, Gregory E. Demas

Hormones and Behavior. 2019 November; 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104608

---

Kathleen M. Munley, Nikki M. Rendon, Gregory E. Demas

Frontiers in Endocrinology. 2018 April; 10.3389/fendo.2018.00136

---

View additional publications