My research in the Ophir lab focuses on pouched rat olfaction. Specifically, I am looking into how these rodents search out particular scents in a ‘noisy’ environment, how they discriminate between odors, and how they might ‘hone in’ on particularly salient odors. This work expands on my previous experience investigating signaler-receiver interactions, as I have examined acoustic signals in Indian peafowl and the influence of vasopressin on vocalizations and behavior in Richardson’s ground squirrels. As I was originally trained as an ecologist, I tend to ask questions related to how different behaviors (and the neural mechanisms underlying these behaviors) influence interactions between individuals and groups in the wild.