Res2405 scialog web nce

Scialog

/

Neurobiology and Changing Ecosystems

2025-2027

Neural systems, shaped by millions of years of evolution, enable living things to perceive and react to their surroundings. But how does the nervous system adapt to today’s unprecedented challenge of rapid and extensive human-caused environmental changes, including exposure to pollution, toxins, and increasingly unpredictable environments? Interdisciplinary and transformative research is needed to uncover the chemical, physical, and biological principles that will aid our understanding of these complex processes, and potentially reveal what adaptive features equip organisms to overcome environmental stressors. This three-year Scialog series aims to create a dynamic community of about 50 early career scientists with diverse scientific expertise and perspectives – cell biology, genetics, neurophysiology, climate science, environmental chemistry, physical modeling, toxicology, and other fields. Together, they will develop blue-sky collaborative research projects to explore neurobiological response to change and advance our understanding of the brain’s chemistry, physiology, and adaptation mechanisms that allow survival under environmental stress.

Applications for 2027 will be available starting in June and should be submitted no later than September 1, 2026, for full consideration.

Fellows & Facilitators

About 50 early career faculty will be invited as Fellows, ranging from their first year on faculty to recently post-tenure. Around 10 senior scientists will act as Facilitators to outline major questions, guide discussions, and assess proposals.

Fellows
Facilitators
  • Carlos Baiz
    University of Texas at Austin
  • Christina Grozinger
    Pennsylvania State University
  • Amanda Lauer
    Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • Cindy Moss
    Johns Hopkins University 
  • Jeff Riffell
    University of Washington
  • Kim Rosvall
    Indiana University
  • Joellen Russell
    University of Arizona
  • Emilie Snell-Rood
    University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  • Wolfgang Stein
    Illinois State University
  • Stacey Tecot
    University of Arizona
  • Martin Tresguerres
    UCSD/Scripps Oceanographic Institute 

Team Awards

Goal: to catalyze new science exploring neurobiological response to rapid and extensive human-caused environmental changes.

2025 Team Awards

Bee-ing Aware: Monitoring Honey Bee Larval Nutrition, Chemical Exposure, and Neurobiological Effects  

  • Ina Anreiter 
    Biological Sciences 
    University of Toronto Scarborough
  • Clare Rittschof 
    Entomology 
    University of Kentucky  
  • Alexander Zestos 
    Chemistry 
    American University  

From Feeding to Flux: Unraveling the Impact of Animal Behavior on Global Ocean Carbon Flow  

  • Mara Freilich 
    Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences / Applied Mathematics 
    Brown University
  • Diana Rennison 
    Biological Sciences 
    University of California, San Diego  
  • Jason Keagy 
    Ecosystem Science and Management 
    Pennsylvania State University  

A Community AI Approach to Identify and Predict Behavioral Motifs Across Marine Life  

  • Brian DePasquale 
    Biomedical Engineering 
    Boston University  
  • Matthew Lovett-Barron 
    Neurobiology 
    University of California, San Diego  
  • Brandon Weissbourd 
    Biology 
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology  

Comparative TRPV1 Function in Sensory Adaptability and Resilience to Global Warming  

  • Felipe Almeida de Pinho Ribeiro 
    Medicine  
    Washington University School of Medicine  
  • Duncan Leitch 
    Integrative Biology and Physiology  
    University of California, Los Angeles  
  • Eviatar Yemini 
    Neurobiology 
    University of Massachusetts Medical School  

Thermal Priming and Parental Care: Investigating Conserved Neural Pathways of Parental Care Plasticity in Response to Heat  

  • Ioana Carcea  
    Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience  
    Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey   
  • Laura Stein 
    Biological Sciences 
    University of Oklahoma  
  • Duncan Leitch 
    Integrative Biology and Physiology  
    University of California, Los Angeles 

Understanding Nanoplastic-Nervous System Interactions within Organisms: A Multipronged Approach

  • Pinar Ayata  
    ASRC Neuroscience Initiative  
    The City University of New York, CUNY  
  • Chayan Dutta  
    Chemistry 
    Georgia State University  
  • Zihao Ou  
    Physics 
    University of Texas at Dallas
2026 Team Awards

Foraging in an Impaired Sensory Landscape: Using Sensory Biology to Inform Ecosystem Impacts of Hypoxia in Aquatic Environments

  • Mara Freilich
    Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences / Applied Mathematics
    Brown University

    Cosima Porteus
    Biological Sciences
    University of Toronto

Conserved Epitranscriptomic Signatures of Stress

  • Ina Anreiter
    Biological Sciences
    University of Toronto Scarborough
  • Elizabeth Heath-Heckman
    Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology
    Michigan State University
  • Valerie Tornini
    Integrative Biology and Physiology / Institute for Society and Genetics
    University of California, Los Angeles

Too Fast and Too Furious: Tradeoffs in Stress-Induced Accelerated Neurodevelopment

  • Ling Hao
    Chemistry and Biochemistry
    University of Maryland, College Park

    Valerie Tornini
    Integrative Biology and Physiology / Institute for Society and Genetics
    University of Califormia, Los Angeles

    Eviatar Yemini
    Neurobiology
    University of Massachusetts Medical School

Identifying Mechanisms of Social Resiliency to Heat Stress

  • Ioana Carcea
    Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience
    Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

    Chelsea Cook
    Biological Sciences
    Marquette University

    Elizabeth Heath-Heckman
    Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology
    Michigan State University

Detection and Prediction of Environmental Disruption by Animal Collectives

  • James Crall
    Entomology
    University of Wisconsin – Madison
  • Matthew Lovett-Barron
    Neurobiology
    University of California, San Diego
  • Orit Peleg
    Computer Science / BioFrontiers Institute
    University of Colorado Boulder

High-Throughput, Multi-Modal Screening of Environmental Stressors on the Human Brain

  • Rebecca Pinals
    Chemical Engineering
    Stanford University
  • Eric Sun
    Biological Engineering
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Yuecheng (Peter) Zhou
    Materials Science and Engineering
    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Next Meeting

March 10-13, 2027

Location

Loews Ventana Canyon Resort
Tucson, Arizona

Lead Program Director

Andrew Feig

Administrative Contact

Suzette Gonzalez

Conference Booklets

2025 Scialog NCE Conference Booklet

2026 Scialog NCE Conference Booklet

SPONSORS

Research corporation for science advancement logo
The Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation logo
The Kavli Foundation