Rebecca M. Calisi Rodríguez
Biography
Biography
Dr. Calisi Rodríguez is faculty in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior in the College of Biological Sciences at UC Davis. Dr. Calisi received her M.S. in Biology from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2006 and her Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley in 2010. She was awarded a competitive Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Science Foundation (2010-2013), followed by the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (2013-2014). Dr. Calisi became a faculty member in the Biology Department of Barnard College of Columbia University from 2014-2015 but was soon recruited to join the faculty of UC Davis in 2015.
At UC Davis, Dr. Calisi leads a thriving research group that investigates how changes in the environment, particularly stressful ones, affect animal brains, health, and behaviors. She is a National Geographic Explorer, a Faculty Scholar of UC Davis' Center for Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives in Science, and a faculty member for UC Davis graduate programs for Animal Behavior and Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology. In her past four years as faculty, she has been awarded over $3.8 million in grant funding from the National Science Foundation as lead or sole project investigator. In 2018, Nature named Calisi a “Thought Leader” in her field, and, in collaboration with the Estee Lauder group, awarded her and nine others the Research Inspiring Scientist Award. Recently, Calisi was awarded the 2019 Early Career Impact Award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences in recognition of her major research contributions to the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior.
But becoming a scientist was not originally in the cards for Calisi. In fact, she first set off for college with the intent on pursuing a career in studio art and theater. However, an interesting turn of events post graduation involving a commissioned mural and a mystery at the zoo changed her path forever. Calisi uses her background as an artist, research scientist, and professor to help other scientists accurately and more effectively communicate their ideas and discoveries with each other, their students, funding agencies, and the public.
Inspired by her journey as a woman, mother, and Mexican-American, Calisi remains passionate about tearing down obstacles for marginalized groups in STEM to make science more inclusive, culturally relative, and accessible to a broader audience. She is most well known for her work in supporting new and breastfeeding parents in science (examples here, here, and here), as well as for her use of humor and entertainment using digital media to promote understanding and diversity in STEM (examples here, here, here). This January of 2019, she became UC Davis’ first Faculty Advisor to the Dean of College of Biological Sciences for Science Communication.
At UC Davis, Dr. Calisi leads a thriving research group that investigates how changes in the environment, particularly stressful ones, affect animal brains, health, and behaviors. She is a National Geographic Explorer, a Faculty Scholar of UC Davis' Center for Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives in Science, and a faculty member for UC Davis graduate programs for Animal Behavior and Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology. In her past four years as faculty, she has been awarded over $3.8 million in grant funding from the National Science Foundation as lead or sole project investigator. In 2018, Nature named Calisi a “Thought Leader” in her field, and, in collaboration with the Estee Lauder group, awarded her and nine others the Research Inspiring Scientist Award. Recently, Calisi was awarded the 2019 Early Career Impact Award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences in recognition of her major research contributions to the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior.
But becoming a scientist was not originally in the cards for Calisi. In fact, she first set off for college with the intent on pursuing a career in studio art and theater. However, an interesting turn of events post graduation involving a commissioned mural and a mystery at the zoo changed her path forever. Calisi uses her background as an artist, research scientist, and professor to help other scientists accurately and more effectively communicate their ideas and discoveries with each other, their students, funding agencies, and the public.
Inspired by her journey as a woman, mother, and Mexican-American, Calisi remains passionate about tearing down obstacles for marginalized groups in STEM to make science more inclusive, culturally relative, and accessible to a broader audience. She is most well known for her work in supporting new and breastfeeding parents in science (examples here, here, and here), as well as for her use of humor and entertainment using digital media to promote understanding and diversity in STEM (examples here, here, here). This January of 2019, she became UC Davis’ first Faculty Advisor to the Dean of College of Biological Sciences for Science Communication.
Charting an Original Path (film)
"Rebecca Calisi Rodríguez’s research on pigeons, like her life, is one of charting an original path. Her experiences as a Mexican-Italian-American woman, professor, artist and mother have provided her with fascinating and unusual perspectives to study the biology of parental behavior. And in so doing, she is redefining what it means to be a scientist." -Dr. Mónica Feliú-Mójer of iBiology in collaboration with Wonder Collaborative |
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