Jenny Michlich

Jenny Michlich is a graduate student in the School of Complex Adaptive Systems at Arizona State University, where they are currently taking coursework towards a Master of Science in Complex Systems. Their applied project in this program will focus on building network graphs to better understand the role of physiological signaling and the decoupling of autonomic systems for intentional communication across vertebrate species. They are also currently an adjunct teaching professor at the Community College of Allegheny County, where they are teaching coursework in the biological sciences. Previously, Jenny completed a Master of Arts in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, where they were performing research exploring the relationship between plasticity and adaptation in the structure and function of circuits for the control of facial gestures and vocalization under domestication, while also exploring aspects of anthropomorphic features of these systems. They are interested in autonomic-auditory-vocal-motor systems in birds and primates, neuroethology, interactions of neuromodulators and hormones in the peripheral and central auditory system, and the application of sensory neuroethology to the avian and hominid fossil record. Broadly, they are interested in continuities between human and nonhuman animal systems of communication, along with the physiological and structural features that support these systems. They are currently working on collaborative projects related to quantitative phonology in animal communication and coauthoring a monograph on stability and flexibility in behavioral and cognitive systems in mammals and birds as they relate to communication.