Michelle Rensel Postdoctoral Scholar Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology and Laboratory of Neuroendocrinoloy, Brain Research Institute, UCLA Principle Research Interests My research broadly focuses on the mechanisms by which steroid hormones influence the brain and behavior. I am particularly interested in how corticosterone levels in the hippocampus mediate the formation and retention of spatial memory in songbirds. My current work utilizes in vivo microdialysis to obtain real-time measurements of corticosterone in the avian hippocampus while the animal is awake and performing a spatial memory task. Email: mrensel@ucla.edu Education 2010    Ph.D. The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN. Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Stephan Schoech 2005    B.S. The University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA. Selected Publications Schoech, S.J., Rensel, M.A. and Wilcoxen, T.E. 2012. Here today, not gone tomorrow: long-term effects of corticosterone. Proceedings of the 25th International Ornithological Congress, J. Ornithology 149. 153 (S1): S217-226. Wilcoxen, T.E., Boughton, R.K., Bridge, E.S., Rensel, M.A. and Schoech, S.J. 2011. Age-related differences in baseline and stress-induced corticosterone in Florida scrub-jays. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 173: 461-466. Schoech, S.J., Rensel, M.A. and Heiss, R.S. 2011. Short- and long-term effects of developmental corticosterone exposure on avian physiology, behavioral phenotype, cognition, and fitness – a review. Current Zoology 57: 514-530. Rensel, M.A. and Schoech, S.J. 2011. Repeatability of baseline and stress-induced corticosterone levels across early life stages in the Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens). Hormones and Behavior 59: 497-502. Rensel, M.A., Wilcoxen, T.E. and Schoech, S.J. 2011. Corticosterone, hatch order, and brood size in free-living Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) nestlings. General and Comparative Endocrinology 171: 197-202. Wilcoxen, T.E., Bridge, E.S., Boughton, R.K., Rensel, M.A., Reynolds, S.J. and Schoech, S.J. 2011. Parental, social, and environmental factors associated with hatching failure in Florida Scrub-Jays. Ibis 153: 70-77. Morgan, G.M., Boughton, R.K., Rensel, M.A. and Schoech, S.J. 2010. Road effects on food availability and energetic intake in Florida scrub-jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens). The Auk 127: 581-589. Rensel, M.A.,* Wilcoxen, T.E.* and Schoech, S.J. 2010. The influence of female nest attendance and paternal provisioning on nestling stress physiology in the Florida scrub-jay. Hormones and Behavior 57: 162-168. * denotes co-first authors Rensel, M.A., Boughton, R.K. and Schoech, S.J. 2010. Development of the adrenal stress response in the Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens). General and Comparative Endocrinology 165: 255-261. Schoech, S.J. and Rensel, M.A. 2009. Environment, glucocorticoids, and the timing of reproduction.  General and Comparative Endocrinology 163: 201-207. Schoech, S.J., Bowman, R., Bridge, E.S., Morgan, G.M., Rensel, M.A., Wilcoxen, T.W. and Boughton, R.K. 2007. Corticosterone administration does not affect timing of breeding in Florida Scrub-Jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens). Hormones and Behavior 52: 191-196.