Angela Freeman

 

Postdoc, Cornell University (2017-2021)

PhD (2016), Kent State University

MSc (2012), University of Manitoba

BES (2008), University of Waterloo

Email: arf86@cornell.edu

Personal webpage

 

Research Interests:

social communication, signaler-receiver interactions, vasopressin and oxytocin, social recognition, behavioral ecology, neuroethology

Specific Interests:

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.

 

Papers (from the lab):

Lo B*, Freeman AR*, Singh B, Hanadari-Levy A, Berman J, Chaves A, Choudhry A, Ophir AG (in press). Effects of a GnRH agonist on sex behavior in females of the southern giant pouched rat. Integrative and Comparative Biology. ICB-2022-0033. (1st authorship is shared between Lo and Freeman).

Freeman AR, Ophir AG (2021). Sex differences in social odor discrimination by southern giant pouched rats (Cricetomys ansorgei). Ethology. 127, 1019-1032.

Freeman AR, Ophir AG, Sheehan MJ (2020) The giant pouched rat (Cricetomys ansorgei) olfactory receptor repertoire. PLoS ONE. 15(4): e0221981

Freeman AR, Aulino EA, Caldwell HK, Ophir AG (2020) Comparison of the distribution of oxytocin and vasopressin 1a receptors in rodents reveals conserved and derived patterns of nonapeptide evolution. Journal of Neuroendocrinology. 2020;00:e12828, 1-11.

Freeman AR, Sheehan MJ, Ophir AG (2019) Anogenital distance predicts sexual odour preferences in African giant pouched rats. Animal Behaviour. 148, 123-132.

Freeman AR, Ophir AG (2018) Scent marking behavior of the Southern African giant pouched rat (Cricetomys ansorgei). Journal of Mammalogy. 99, 1430-1435.

 

Undergrads Date Joined
Amit Hanadari-Levy 2020-2021
Lucy Huang 2020-2021
Alexandra (Alex) Chaves 2019-2021
Jackie Berman 2019-2020
Aumena Choudhry (Visiting High School Student) Summer 2019
Sam Arenas 2017-2020
Beverly Lo 2018-2020
Lauren Prisco 2018-2019
Rachel Zheng 2018-2019
Helen Kwon 2017-2019
Emily Mao (Visiting High School Student) 2018
Montse Cubilla (Visiting High School Student) 2018
Deepthi John 2017
 Janet Wang  2016-2018

 

Angela presenting at ABS, 2017 Working hard at SICB 2019
        Helen at CUP 2018 Rachel at CUP 2019
Beverly at CUP 2019 Sam at CUP 2019
Aumena (High School HSAP Student) at SICB 2020