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Stephen Nowicki

Professor of Biology
Biology
Duke Box 90338, Durham, NC 27708
137 Biological Sciences Building, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708

Selected Presentations & Appearances


Angry Birds: Aggressive Signaling in Sparrows · December 7, 2023 - December 7, 2023 Invited Talk New Hope Audubon Society, Chapel Hill, NC
Wild Voices: In Tune with the Animal Kingdom - "So Curious" podcast · August 2023 - August 2023 Interview The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA
Syntactic rules predict song type matching in a songbird - 2023 national meeting · July 14, 2023 - July 14, 2023 National Scientific Meeting Animal Behavior Society, Portland, OR
How Genes and the Environment Shape Behavior - Field Animal Behavior · June 22, 2023 - June 22, 2023 Invited Talk Shoals Marine Lab (Univ. New Hampshire), Appledore Island, Maine
How Animals Communicate - Field Animal Behavior · June 21, 2023 - June 21, 2023 Invited Talk Shoals Marine Lab (Univ. New Hampshire), Appledore Island, Maine
How Animals Experience the World - Field Animal Behavior · June 20, 2023 - June 20, 2023 Invited Talk Shoals Marine Lab (Univ. New Hampshire), Appledore Island, Maine
Influence of visual background on discrimination of signal-relevant colors in zebra finches - 2023 national meeting · January 6, 2023 - January 6, 2023 National Scientific Meeting Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Austin, TX
The beak of the (zebra) finch: A story of perception and the evolution of reliable signaling · September 20, 2022 Invited Talk UNC-Chapel Hill,
Do birds see rainbows? If so, why does it matter? - 2022 International Ornithological Congress · August 15, 2022 International Meeting or Conference International Ornithologist's Union, Durban, South Africa (remote)
Categorical Perception in Animal Signaling - Departmental seminar · December 6, 2021 Invited Talk Duke Biology, Duke University
Categorical Perception and the Problem of Reliable Signaling - Brill Baerends Lecture · November 25, 2021 Keynote/Named Lecture Netherlands Society for Behavioural Biology , Egmond aam Zee, Netherlands
Birdsong and Braininess: How Occam’s Razor Is Sometimes Wrong - PhD Professional Development Workshop · November 24, 2021 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium Netherlands Society for Behavioural Biology , Egmond aam Zee, Netherlands
Male and female response to behavioral senescence in swamp sparrow song · November 22, 2021 Invited Talk Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands
Birdsong and Braininess: How Occam’s Razor Is Sometimes Dulled · July 6, 2021 Invited Talk Huang Fellows Program, Duke University
A Problem of Honest Signaling: Birdsong and Brain Development - BSURF presentation · May 25, 2021 Invited Talk Duke Biology, Duke University
Adventures with a Robotic Bird in a Marsh - "Adventures in Field Research" series · March 13, 2021 Invited Talk Lincoln Memorial University, Online
Do birds see rainbows? Categorical color perception in the zebra finch - Duke VisionFest · September 11, 2020 Other Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Online
What's birdsong got to do with music, and vice-versa? - Panel on music research in science and the humanties · August 1, 2020 Other Duke pSearch, online
Differences in Categorical Color Perception Between Two Estrildid Finches - Animal Behavior Society Annual Meeting · July 28, 2020 - July 31, 2020 International Meeting or Conference Animal Behavior Society, Online

The ABS meeting was online this year due to the pandemic

The Beak of the (Zebra) Finch: A Story of Perception and the Evolution of Reliable Signaling · June 25, 2020 Invited Talk Huang Fellows Program, Online
How Do Animals “See” the World and Why Does it Matter? · May 14, 2020 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands

Note that this workshop was originally scheduled to be in person, but was held online instead because of the COVID19 pandemic

The Beak of the (Zebra) Finch: A Story of Perception and the Evolution of Reliable Signaling · May 14, 2020 Invited Talk Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands

Note that this was supposed to be an in-person invited talk, to a larger audience than an invited workshop I did the same day, but both were done online due to the pandemic

The Beak of the (Zebra) Finch: A Story of Perception and the Evolution of Reliable Signaling · February 20, 2020 Invited Talk Eastern Carolina University, Greenville, NC
The Beak of the (Zebra) Finch: A Story of Perception and the Evolution of Reliable Signaling · January 14, 2020 Invited Talk Duke Program in Ecology, Durham, NC
Carotenoid Concentration in Avian Retinal Oil Droplets Correlates with Color Discrimination Across a Perceptual Category Boundary - Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting · January 3, 2020 - January 7, 2020 National Scientific Meeting Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Austin, TX
Categorical Perception and the Problem of Reliable Signaling · October 18, 2019 Invited Talk Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Effects of categorical perception on the reliability of an assessment signal - Joint meeting of the Animal Behavior Society and International Ethological Congress · July 23, 2019 - July 28, 2019 International Meeting or Conference Animal Behavior Society, Chicago, IL
Categorical Perception and the Problem of Reliable Signaling · March 18, 2019 Invited Talk Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Categorical Perception and the Problem of Reliable Signaling · February 22, 2019 Invited Talk Tufts University, Medford, MA
Categorical Perception and the Problem of Reliable Signaling · February 11, 2019 Invited Talk Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
Song is Not a Reliable Signal of General Cognitive Ability in a Songbird - Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting · January 3, 2019 - January 6, 2019 National Scientific Meeting Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Tampa, FL
From Big Bird to Bird Brains: How Our Feathered Friends Can Help Students Learn Science · December 16, 2013 Lecture Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching, Houston, TX
From Big Bird to Bird Brains: How Our Feathered Friends Can Help Students Learn Science · December 16, 2013 Lecture National Science Teachers Association meeting, San Antonio, TX
Birdsong and the Problem of Honest Signaling · December 4, 2012 Lecture Philosophy of Science Association Meeting, San Diego, CA
Taking Biology from the Newspaper to the Classroom · December 4, 2012 Lecture National Association of Biology Teachers meeting, Dallas, TX
Taking Biology from the Newspaper to the Classroom · December 4, 2012 Lecture Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching, Corpus Christi, TX
Developmental Stress, Cognition, and the Problem of Honest Signaling · December 4, 2011 Lecture UC Irvine
Developmental Stress, Cognition, and the Problem of Honest Signaling · December 4, 2011 Lecture University of Montana
Taking Biology from the Newspaper to the Classroom · December 4, 2011 Lecture Pennsylvania Science Teachers Association meeting, Hershey, PA
Why Birds Sing, Why Brains Matter · December 4, 2010 Lecture Indiana University
Why Do Bright Students Sometimes Fail Their First College Biology Course? · December 4, 2010 Lecture Florida Association of Science Teachers meeting, St. Augustine, FL
Why Do Bright Students Sometimes Fail Their First College Biology Course? · December 4, 2010 Lecture Science Teachers Association of New York State meeting, Rochester, NY
Do Animals Lie? · December 4, 2010 Lecture Northwestern University
Developmental Stress, Cognition, and the Problem of Honest Signaling · December 4, 2010 Lecture Binghamton University
Birdsong and the Problem of Honest Signaling · December 19, 2009 Lecture Wesleyan University
Bring Biology to Life · December 19, 2009 Lecture National Science Teachers Association Regional Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Bring Biology to Life · December 19, 2009 Lecture Mississippi Science Teachers Association Annual Meeting, Jackson, MS
Birdsong and the Problem of Honest Signaling · December 19, 2009 Lecture University of Michigan
Brain Development, Sexual Selection, and Mate Choice in Birds · December 19, 2008 Lecture University of Florida
Do Animals Lie? · December 19, 2008 Lecture College of Charleston
On the Aesthetics and Utility of Birdsong · December 19, 2008 Lecture Cambridge University
Active Strategies _x000B_for Motivating All Biology Students · December 19, 2008 Lecture National Biology Teachers Association Annual Meeting, Memphis, TN
Birdsong and the Problem of Honest Signaling · December 19, 2008 Lecture Rockefeller University
How Smart Kids Sometimes Fail Their First College Course · December 19, 2008 Lecture Leadership in Education Conference, Chicago, IL
Practical Strategies for Engaging Today’s Biology Student · December 19, 2008 Lecture National Science Teachers Association Conference, Boston, MA
Birdsong and the Problem of Honest Signaling · December 19, 2008 Lecture Princeton University

Service to Duke


Global Education Committee (University) · 2021 - 2025 Committee Service
Venice International University Academic Council (Other) · 2013 - 2025 Committee Service Venice International University,

Serve as Duke's representative to the Academic Council of this consortium

Bass Connections Faculty Advisory Council (Program) · 2012 - 2018 Committee Service
President . Phi Beta Kappa, Beta Chapter of North Carolina · 2009 - 2020 Other
Dean and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education · July 2007 - June 2018 Other
Dean of Natural Sciences, Trinity College · July 2004 - June 2007 Other