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Home: Our Faculty: Brooklyn College Faculty:

Jennifer Basil

Assc Professor   Department: Biology   Location: 400 Ingersoll Hall Extension   Phone: 718-951-5000 x2012   Fax: 718-951-4659   Email:

University of Massachusetts, Amherst-- Major-- Zoology; Degree-- Master of Science 2/91; Degree-- Doctor of Philosophy 5/93; State University of New York, Albany; Major: Biology/Chemistry; Minor: Medieval and Renaissance Studies; Degree: Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude 9/86; Honors: New York State Regents Scholar; Dean's List; Distinction in Medieval and Renaissance; Culture Studies; Phi Beta Kappa Education: DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS -Amherst - 1993 (Zoology) MSc, University of Massachusetts--Amherst - 1990 (Zoology) B.S., Magna Cum Laude, SUNY-Albany - 1986 (Biology and Chemistry) Areas of Expertise: Animal learning and memory, evolution of brain complexity, ecology, evolution, sensory biology, neural basis of behavior. I use invertebrate models, mostly. Doctoral Rotation Projects: Learning and memory in Chambered Nautilus Pavlovian conditioning in invertebrates Spatial learning in crustaceans Books and Publications Crook, R. and J. Basil (2009) Memory of visual and topographical features suggests spatial learning in the ancient cephalopod Nautilus pompilius. J. Comp. Psychol.: 123: 164-174. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2009 Curator, Scholarpedia: "Nautilus Biology." (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2009 Grasso, F. and J Basil (2009) The evolution of flexible behavioral repertoires in cephalopod mollusks. Brain Behavior and Evolution, In press. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2009 Crook, R. and J. Basil (2008) A role for nautilus in studies of the evolution of brain and behavior. Communicative & Integrative Biology 1 (1): 1-3. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2008 Crook, R. and J. Basil (2008) Living Fossil Memories, featured article in Journal of Experimental Biology 211: iii (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2008 Crook, R. and J. Basil (2008). A Biphasic Memory Curve in the Chambered Nautilus, Nautilus pompilius L. (Cephalopoda: Nautiloidea). J. Experimental Biology 211: 1992-1998. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2008 Crook, R. and J. Basil (I2008) Nautilus provides insights into the evolution of the cephalopod brain. Society for Neuroscience Abstr., 2008. (Books and Publications: Abstract) 2008 Soucier, C.P. and J. Basil (2008). Detection of underwater vibrations by the Chambered Nautilus, Nautilus pompilius. American Journal of Malacology:1-17. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2008 Basil, J., Bahctinova, I., Kuroiwa, K., Lee, N., Preis, M., and C. Soucier (2005) The role that tentacles and rhinophores play in odor-mediated behavior in Chambered Nautilus. Freshwater and Marine Behavior and Physiology 38 (3), pp. 209-221. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2005 Magazine and Newspaper Articles------------- USA Today ("Robot Lobsters" (Nov, 2003)---------- Nature News ("Learning in Ptarmigans," Sept 2001). (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2003 Grasso, F. and J. Basil (2003) How lobsters, crayfishes, and crabs find important sources of odor: current perspectives and future directions. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 12 (6): 721-727. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2003 *Basil, J., Lazenby, W., Nakanuku, L, and R. Hanlon. (2002) Female Nautilus are attracted to the odor of male conspecifics. Bulletin of Marine Science, 70:217-225. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2002 Voigt, R., Basil, J., and J. Atema (2002) American lobsters track and locate distant "leaky" odor sources. Chemical Senses 24. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2002 Grasso, F. and J. Basil (2001) Antennule morphology and olfactory sampling strategy: lessons from the lobster. Am. Zool (2001) 40 (6): 1032. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2001 *Basil, J. A., Sheikh, S., R. Hanlon, and J. Atema. (2000) Three-dimensional odor tracking by Nautilus. Journal of Experimental Biology (Cover Article) 203 (9): 1409-1414. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2000 Basil, J. A. and D. C. Sandeman (2000) Australian freshwater crayfish detect small spatial changes in their habitat using only tactile cues. Ethology106: 247-59. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2000 Grasso, F., Basil, J., and J. Atema (1999) Toward the convergence: robot and lobster perspectives of tracking odors to their source in the turbulent marine environment. BioMimetic Robots ISIC/CIRA/ISA-98. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 1999 Awards, Honors and Fellowships PI: NSF Proposal (2009). Evolution of Complex Behavior: characterization of learning and memory in Nautilus pompilius. Submitted July 2008 ($696,132.00).CoPis John Chamberlain (BC) and Roger Hanlon (Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole) (Grants and Fellowships) 2009 CUNY-Collaborative Grant (PI, P. Moller CoPI) (2009) Effects of the endocrine disrupting compound, ethinyl estradiol on behavior and anatomy in Mormyrid fish, Mormyrus rume proposcirostris Boulenger. (Grants and Fellowships) 2009 Grass Foundation (pending): "Can the Chambered Nautilus detect sound?" $10,000.00. (Grants and Fellowships) 2008 National Science Foundation (2007-2009) "Developing a STEM Curriculum for Early College Programs: A High School To College Continuum." (Brooklyn College, $149, 917, 25% indirect cost, 2 years, 8% effort, requested release time). Co-PI with Chaya Gurwitz, Sophia P. Perdikaris, Theodore Raphan and Elizabeth I Sklar (Brooklyn College). (Grants and Fellowships) 2008 NSF Proposal (2008). Evolution of Complex Behavior: characterization of learning and memory in Nautilus pompilius. Submitted July 2008 ($596,132.00). (Grants and Fellowships) 2008 National Science Foundation (2007-2009) "Developing a STEM Curriculum for Early College Programs: A High School To College Continuum." (Brooklyn College, $149, 917, 25% indirect cost, 2 years, 8% effort, requested release time). Co-PI with Chaya Gurwitz, Sophia P. Perdikaris, Theodore Raphan and Elizabeth I Sklar (Brooklyn College). (Grants and Fellowships) 2007 Submitted to Grass Foundation: "The ability of Chambered Nautilus to detect underwater sound" (10k). (Grants and Fellowships) 2007 Animal Behavor Society Meeting, Utah, August 2006. WINNER: Genesis Award Competition for best Undergraduate Research, 2006. (Awards and Honors) 2006 Kanwal Gulzar, Honors Researcher: WINNER: Genesis Award for Best Undergraduate Research, 2006. Animal Behavor Society Meeting, Utah, August 2006. (Awards and Honors) 2006 The Broeklundian: Best Biology Professor 2004, 2005, 2006; NBSSO: Best Biology Professor 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004; Chemistry Society: Best Biology Professor 2001. (Awards and Honors) 2006 Winner, Best Overall Professor 2006, Brooklyn College Faculty Awards. (Awards and Honors) 2006 Research Activities Evolutionary Biology of the Chambered Nautilus: 1) Behavioral and neural correlates of learning and memory in Nautilus, 2) Function of the chemosensory appendages of Nautilus in foraging, 3) Use of odor in identifying conspecifics and mates, 5) Biomechanics of the radula in feeding in Nautilus. Tactile Learning and Memory in Crustaceans: 1) Metric versus topological coding of space in freshwater crayfish, 2) Duration of memory for tactile information in freshwater crayfish, 3) Structure of memory for tactile information in freshwater crayfish. Comparative Olfactory Biology of Spiny Lobster: 1) Comparative morphology of antennules of 5 species of Spiny Lobster (Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.; Smithsonian), 2) Comparative orientation behavior of 5 species of Spiny Lobster. Aquatic Toxicology: 1) Effects of environmental contaminants (Endocrine disrupting compounds) on the behavior of local fishes (four-spined sticklebacks). 2008 Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums Basil, J., Crook, R. and F. Grasso (2010) Where do complex brains come from? The evolution of flexible behavioral repertoires using cephalopod molluscs as a model system. Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology Conference, Seattle, Jan 2010. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009 Crook, R. and Basil, J. Characteristics of Spatial Memory in Chambered Nautilus. Society for Neuroscience Meetings, Chicago, Oct, 2009. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009 Invited Talk: Learning in a living fossil, experimental approaches. Invertebrate Neuroscience Meetings, San Juan, Puerto Rico, February 13, 2009. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009 Volz, S., Basil, J. and F. Grasso (2009). A Computational Model of Haptic Spatial Learning in Cherax destructor. Society for Neuroscience Meetings, Chicago, 2009. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009 BASIL, J.A. Evolution of olfaction in cephalopods. Department of Geology, City University of New York, April, 2008. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008 Crook, R. and J. Basil (2008) Nautilus provides insights into the evolution of the cephalopod brain. Society for Neuroscience Meetings, Washington DC, Nov. 2008. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2008 Gurwitz, C. , J. Basil, S. Perdikaris and T. Raphan (2008) Developing a STEM Curriculum for Early College Programs: A High School to College Continuum, The Sixth International Conference on Education and Information Systems, Technologies and Applications: EISTA 2008, June, 2008. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2008 Basil, J. and C. Soucier. Detection of underwater vibration in the Chambered Nautilus. American Malacological Society, Seattle, WA, USA, July 2007. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007 Basil, J. The Sensory Ecology of the Chambered Nautilus, Queens College. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007 Basil, J.A. Olfaction in Ancient Seas: Evolution of olfaction in cephalopod mollusks. NSF National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (Evolution of Chemosensation Working Group), Durham, NC, June 2007. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007 Crook, R. and J. Basil. Long-term spatial memory in the Chambered Nautilus. Animal Behavior Society Meeting, Vermont, July 2007. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007 Kuroiwa, K. and J. Basil. EDCs have long-term effects on predation risk in 4-spined sticklebacks. Animal Behavior Society Meeting, Vermont, July 2007. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007 Kuroiwa, K. and J. Basil. Effects on activity of exposure to endocrine disrupting compound ethinyl estradiol in 4-spined sticklebacks. Society for Aquatic Toxicology, Nov 2007. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007 *Basil, J., Inna Arbit, Zunaira Ashraf, Rina Basin, Moses Feaster, Kanwal Gulzar, Kevin Kleiner, Lina Lukina, and Inna Soybelman.Working and reference components to spatial memory in freshwater crayfish. International Behavioural Ecology Meeting, Tours, France, July 2006. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2006 *Gulzar, K., Adewale Adenuga, Inna Arbit, Sofia Ashraf, Zunaira Ashraf, Rina Basin, Miriam Eichenbaum, Moses Feaster,Crystal Goodseit , Kevin Kleiner, Jane Lam, Lina Lukina, Inna Soybelman and J. Basil. Working and reference components to spatial memory in freshwater crayfish. Animal Behavor Society Meeting, Utah, August 2006. WINNER: Genesis Award Competition for best Undergraduate Research, 2006. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006 Basil, J. A. Navigating in a Complex World: Animal Models for Human Problems. Institute for Behavioral Analysis. University of Guadelajara, Guadelajara, Mexico. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2006 Basil, J. and C. Soucier. Detection of underwater vibration in the Chambered Nautilus. American Malacological Society, Seattle, WA, USA, July 2006. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2006 Basil, J. and C. Soucier. The function of the statocyst in the Chambered Nautilus. International Ethological Congress, Invited Cephalopod Symposium, Budapest, Hungary, August 2005. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2006 Basil, J. and C. Soucier. The function of the statocyst in the Chambered Nautilus. International Ethological Congress, Invited Cephalopod Symposium, Budapest, Hungary. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2006 Crook, R. and J. Basil. Classical conditioning indicates short- and long-term memory stores in Chambered Nautilus. Animal Behavior Society Meeting, Utah, August 2006. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2006 Kuroiwa, K. and J. Basil. Long term behavioral effects of exposure to endocrine disrupting compound ethinyl estradiol in 4-spined sticklebacks. Society for Aquatic Toxicology, Nov 2006. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006 Kuroiwa, K. and J. Basil. Long-term behavioral effects of exposure to endocrine disrupting compound ethinyl estradiol in 4-spined sticklebacks. Animal Behavior Society Meeting, Utah, August, 2006. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2006 Basil, J. and C. Soucier. The function of the statocyst in the Chambered Nautilus. International Ethological Congress, Invited Cephalopod Symposium, Budapest, Hungary, August 2005. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2005 *Feaster, M. M., Barach, M. S., Gulzar, K., Romney, Z., Semchemkova, O. , Soybelman, I. V., Taslima, H., Zaheer, A., and J. Basil. Working and reference components of memory in freshwater crayfish. International Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Genesis Award Competition, Oaxaca, Mexico, June 2004. Basil, J. A. Navigating in a Complex World: Animal Models for Human Problems. Institute for Behavioral Analysis. University of Guadelajara, Guadelajara, Mexico June, 2004. ---- Basil, J. Crunchy Cognition and Squishy Sentience. Brooklyn College Cognitive Science Colloquium, March 2004---- (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2004 ----*Bard, S., Bermeo, A., Feaster, M. Gates, K., Horchner, N., Service, K., Voloshchuk, Y. and J. Basil. Freshwater crayfish learn and remember metric features of their environment. Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Boise State University, July 2003 ----*Dunehy, A., Martineau, M., Klein, D., Basil, J. and F. Grasso. Patterns of Foraging and Communal Nest Use Among Naturalized Monk Parrots in Brooklyn. Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Boise State University, July 2003. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2003 ----Basil, J. A., Latent Learning and Tactile Exploration in Crayfish. Biology Department, Hofstra University, March, 2003; ----Basil, J. A., Ecology and Behavior of the Chambered Nautilus. Biology Department and Women in Science Organization, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, Dec, 2003; ----Basil, J. A., Chemical Ecology of the Chambered Nautilus. Neurobiology and Behavior Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, March 2002; ----Basil, J. A. Official Facilitator, NASA: "Invertebrate Sensory Information Processing, Implications for Biologically Inspired Autonomous Systems." ISIP/NASA converence on robotics, National Academy of Sciences, Woods Hole, MA April, 2000. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2003 ----*Basil, J., Bahctinova, I., Kuroiwa, K., Lee, N., Preis, M, and C. Soucier. Sensory biology of the Chambered Nautilus. Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Founders Award Competition, Indiana Univeristy, July 2002; ----Voigt, R., Basil, J., and J. Atema . American lobsters track and locate distant "leaky" odor sources. Association for the Chemoreception Sciences. Sarasota, Florida, April 2002. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2002 ----*Basil, J., Belova, N. and Neymark, A. Tactile aspects of environmental mapping in the freshwater crayfish, Procambarus clarkii. Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Oregon State University, July 2001. ----Grasso, F., and Basil, J. Antennue Morphology and Olfactory Sampling: Comparative Lessons from the Lobster. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 2001, Chicago ----Dale, J., Schreiber, S., Talon, B., and J. Basil. Laser pointer use by professional scientists at national meetings: the showier the animal, the showier the pointing. Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Moorehouse University, August, 2000. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2001 Professional Leadership Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Search Committee, Member (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2009 Zicklin Microbiology Chair Search, Member (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2009 Academic Disciplinary Committee (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008 Chair, Curriculum Committee, Biology Department (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008 Deputy Chair, Biology Department (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2008 Education Committee, Animal Behavior Society 2006 to present. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008 Ph.D. program in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior: Admissions Chair. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008 Ph.D. Program, Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior: EEB Subcommittee. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008 Ph.D. Program, Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior: First Exam Chair. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008 Phi Beta Kappa, Admissions Committee 2005 to present. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008 PSC-CUNY Research Awards Review Committee. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008 STAR High School Advisory Committee, 2006 to present. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008 Academic Disciplinary Committee (2007-present) (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2007 Associate Director, AREAC Marine Facility, Brooklyn College. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2007 Faculty Day Committee, C 2003 to present------ Diversity Committee, Animal Behavior Society, P 2002 to present------ Alliance for Minority Participation in Research, C 2001 to present------ Minority Access to Research Careers, C 2004 to present------ Website Committee, D 1999 to present------ Mentor, Intel/Westinghouse Competition, C 1999 to 2007------ Appointments Committee, D 2001 to 2007------ Neuroscience Search Committee, Bio/Psych., C 2006 to 2007------ (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2007 Faculty-Student Disciplinary Panel 2007 to present. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2007 Chair, Policy Committee, Animal Behavior Society, P 2003 to 2004. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2004 Structural Biologist Search Committee, D 2003 to 2004------ Chair, Policy Committee, Animal Behavior Society, P 2003 to 2004------ Session Leader, "Learning and Cognition," ABS Meetings, P July 2003------ Session Leader, "Learning," Animal Behavior Meetings, P July, 2001------ Seminar Committee, D 2001 to 2002------ Grade Appeals Committee, D. 2000 to 2006------ Facilitator, NASA workshop on Robotics, P April, 2000. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2004 Pedagogical Achievements Undergraduate:------- Bio 15: Urban Field Botany--- Bio 45.1: Zoology--- Bio 45.1: Laboratory Studies of Zoology--- Bio 73: Research for Undergraduates (I-V)--- Bio 83: Honors Research for Undergraduates (I-V)--- Graduate:------- Bio 793.01: Cognitive Ethology--- Bio 793.02: Research Methods in the Behavioral Sciences--- Bio 793.02: Evolution of Intelligent Behavior--- Bio 793.03: Advanced Animal Behavior--- Bio 792: Guided Readings (Masters, Doctoral)--- Bio 794.03: Animal Behavior II (Co Instructor)--- 799.1/799.2: Master's Thesis--- Bio 900: Doctoral Dissertation--- 2007 Winner, Best Overall Professor 2006, Brooklyn College Faculty Awards. 2006 Community Activities Mentor, High-school researchers, Midwood and Erasmus HS. 2008 Other Professional Activities Appointed Curator for Scholarpedia 2009 MEMBERSHIPS IN PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES----------- Animal Behaviour Society ---------- International Society for the Study of Behavioral Ecology--------- International Society for Neuroethology---------- Society for Neuroscience---------- American Society of Zoologists---------- American Ornithological Union ---------- Association for Chemoreception Sciences---------- Crustacean Society---------- Malacological Society 2008