- Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology /
- About us /
- Our Team /
- Penn, Dustin J.
Research
My research is largely focused on sexual selection and communication, and I am particularly interested in complex courtship signals. I mainly work on house mice, though my students and I study a variety of species. I have broad interests in behavioral biology, evolutionary biology (including host-pathogen interactions), evolutionary genetics, and I am interested in integrating these areas with applied sciences, including medicine (‘Darwinian medicine’) and conservation biology.
Current projects
- Functions of major urinary proteins (MUPs) in chemical communication (Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) grant P24711-B21)
- Adaptive functions of ultrasonic vocalizations in male mice (Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) grant)
- Sounds and pheromones: neural networks merging olfactory and acoustic cues in sexual imprinting (grant funded by the Human Frontier Science Program, co-applicant, grant)
- Evolution of honest signalling (in collaboration with Szabolcs Számadó)
- Multiple male mating in house mice
- Pathogen-mediated sexual selection
- Voice Prints: Individual Signatures and Recognition in Mice (Austrian Science Foundation (FWF, Co-author, grant)
Teaching
I have a course on Darwinian Medicine, lead the institute's Journal Club (topics in behavioral ecology), and give practical courses in Experimental Design and Behavioral Ecology, which are offered for credit at the University of Vienna. Teaching
Public outreach and education
I wrote a guide and a website about the Evolution/Creationism controversy for the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB), which is called 'Evolution Matters', and it is currently being translated into different languages.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
| 2004 | Habilitation (Post-Doctoral Thesis), Department of Zoology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria |
| 1997 | Ph.D., Biology, Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, Advisor: W.K. Potts |
| 1992 | M.S., Zoology, Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA, Advisor: H.J. Brockmann |
| 1988 | B.S., Biology, Department of Biology, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, Oklahoma, USA |
Positions
| 2004-present | Adjunct Professor (Universitätsdozent), Faculty of Life Sciences, Center for Organismal Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria | |
| 2011-present | Director (until 2014) and Senior Scientist, Konrad-Lorenz-Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria | |
| 2002-2010 | Director and Senior Scientist, Konrad Lorenz Institute for Ethology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria | |
| 2003-2004 | Visiting Professor, School of Biology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK | |
| 1999-2002 | Assistant Research Professor, Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA | |
| 1998-1999 | Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA | |
| Editorships | ||
| 2013-present | Associate Editor: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | |
| Memberships | ||
| Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) | ||
| European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) | ||
| International Society for Behavioral Ecology (ISBE) | ||
| Ethologische Gesellschaft | ||