PEOPLE

Aubrey M. Kelly, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor - Lab PI

Dr. Aubrey M. Kelly received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) in 2007. As an undergraduate, her research focused on examining courtship behavior in birds. During a gap year upon graduating, she worked as a research assistant at UCSD examining grouping and reproductive behavior in birds and social communication in honeybees (oh look, the birds and the bees!). She then attended Indiana University for graduate school in the lab of James L. Goodson, completing her Ph.D. in Biology and Neuroscience, with a minor in Animal Behavior, in 2014. Her graduate research examined the evolution of the neural mechanisms underlying social behavior in closely related finch species that vary in sociality, ranging from highly territorial to highly social phenotypes. Upon receipt of an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship, she joined the lab of Alexander G. Ophir in the Psychology Department at Cornell University. As a postdoc, using the socially monogamous prairie vole, her research examined the development of social behavior and the social brain. Dr. Kelly joined the faculty at Emory University in the Department of Psychology in August 2018.

aubrey.kelly@emory.edu

Download Dr. Kelly's CV here:

Postdoctoral Researchers

Kelly J. Wallace, Ph.D. - NSF PRFB fellow

Dr. Kelly J. Wallace (kellyjwallace.github.io) is an NSF PRFB postdoctoral fellow in the Lab of Dr. Aubrey Kelly. Kelly received her undergraduate degree in Neurobiology & Behavior from Cornell University in 2015. While at Cornell she conducted research in the lab of Dr. Alex Ophir, investigating the neural mechanisms of spatial learning and social behavior in prairie voles. She then performed her doctoral research in the Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior PhD Program at the University of Texas at Austin under the primary supervision of Dr. Hans Hofmann and funded by a Ford Foundation Fellowship. Her dissertation characterized variation in cognition between the sexes and across dominance hierarchies in two fish species: the western mosquitofish (G. affinis) and an African cichlid (A. burtoni). In 2021 she joined the lab of Dr. Aubrey Kelly to explore the developmental origins and social influences of cognitive style in the precocial African Spiny Mouse (A. dimidiatus) and the altricial Mongolian Gerbil (M. unguicalatus). Dr. Wallace will begin a position as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Amherst College in January 2024.

kelly.wallace@emory.edu

Dr. Wallace's CV is available for download at kellyjwallace.github.io/cv

Graduate Students

Brandon Fricker - DoD NDSEG fellow

Brandon is a PhD student advised by Dr. Aubrey Kelly. Before joining the Kelly lab, Brandon obtained a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience and a B.S. in Psychology from Lehigh University while working in Dr. Julie Haas’ lab. His undergraduate research focused on identifying how an electrical synapse’s activity induces long-term plastic changes to the same synapse. In the Kelly lab, Brandon is using a) chemogenetic technology to map neural circuits underlying grouping behavior and cooperation,

b) functional genetic approaches to determine nonapeptide contributions to kin-biased behaviors, and c) fiber photometry to elucidate neural dynamics of context-specific behavior in spiny mice.

brandon.alexander.fricker@emory.edu

Download Brandon's CV here:

Deborah Ho

Deborah (Deb) is a PhD student advised by Dr. Aubrey Kelly. Deb earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Neuroscience (2021) and master's degree in Psychology (2022) from the University of Michigan. As a master's student, she investigated the effects of maternal care and stress responses on the behavior of juvenile North American red squirrels. In the Kelly Lab, Deb is exploring group dynamics in spiny mice and how the brain enables newcomers to join established social groups.

deborah.ho@emory.edu

Download Deb's CV here:

Christian Janmil Esquilin-Rodriguez

Christian is a PhD student advised by Dr. Aubrey Kelly. Christian completed his bachelor’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus. As an undergraduate, he researched the circuits mediating reward and punishment with Dr. Christian Bravo-Rivera. He then transitioned to working with Dr. Cristina Velazquez-Marrero to conduct research elucidating the effects of “binge-like” alcohol exposure in context fear conditioning in female mice. In the Kelly Lab, Christian is examining how reward is titrated in the brains of spiny mice to uncover mechanisms that reinforce group cohesion and facilitate large group-living.

christian.esquilin-rodriguez@emory.edu

Download Christian's CV here: