SBN’S INCOMING PRESIDENT-ELECT: BARNEY A. SCHLINGER
Barney A. Schlinger, Ph.D. obtained a B.S. at Tufts U. in Biology (1977) and a M.S. (1983) and Ph.D (1988) at Boston.U. His dissertation research with Gloria Callard investigated brain steroid-metabolism and behavior in birds. His post-doctoral work in Psychology at UCLA with Art Arnold explored the neurobiology and endocrinology of birdsong. He was appointed as Assist Professor (1993) in what is now the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology (IBP) at UCLA and became Full Professor in 2002. In 2009 he was selected to Chair the IBP Department, a position he currently still holds. He is broadly interested in the powerful ways in which steroid hormones influence the structure and function of the brain to control complex vertebrate behavior. He challenges dogma that the steroids that control brain and behavior are derived solely from the periphery. In songbirds, his lab finds that steroids are synthesized de novo in brain with actions independent of peripheral hormones. Much of his work has focused on the estrogen synthetic enzyme aromatase. By combining biochemical, anatomical, electrophysiological, molecular and behavioral approaches, his lab has convincingly demonstrated that estrogens are brain constitutive neuromodulators influencing avian auditory processing. His lab also strives to address problems that link laboratory study with general questions in ecology, evolutionary biology and ethology. He has studied a diversity of wild species, including jays and wild sparrows. He has developed a model system for understanding neuromuscular and hormonal control of a complex motor behavior, the courtship of wild male golden-collared manakins of Panamanian rainforests. This line of work has developed into a significant story that links behavioral neuroendocrinology with diverse areas of anatomy, physiology and evolutionary theory. Over the years, he has received a number of honors including being a recipient of the Frank Beach Award from SBN (1993); an Alexander von Humboldt Research Award and he is a Research Associate of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. He has considerable administrative experience at UCLA. As a member of SBN from near the beginning he has had many roles including Secretary, 2007-2009; Chair, Nominating Committee, 2015; Chair, Awards Committee, 2009-2011; Chair, Organizing Committee for the 2007 Annual Meeting. He was elected to the Advisory Board, 2003-2007; was a member of the Nominating Committee, 2000; Training Grant Committee, 2001; Frank Beach Award Committee, 2002-2004; Program Committee, 2003-2005; he organized workshops for the annual meetings in 2004 & 2005, an outgrowth of which was the current Public Education Committee. He is eager to help SBN and its members prosper and meet the challenges we face in our pursuit of scientific discovery and excellence.
