Jennifer Basil is currently the Vice Director of the Brooklyn College Cancer Center (2020-).
After receiving her Ph.D., for which she performed a comparative study of the cognitive and neural correlates of spatial memory in food-storing birds, Jennifer Basil moved to the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. As a Post-Doc there, she focused upon the sensory and navigation behavior in a variety of crustaceans. Dr. Basil received prestigious Grass Fellowship to study the behavior of cephalopods. She then became senior research associate at the MBL, examining the sensory biology and cognition of the Chambered Nautilus. Her laboratory’s area of focus is the evolution of complex brains and behavior using the comparative approach, and she uses cephalopod molluscs as her model system. Focus: Animal learning and memory, evolution of brain and behavioral complexity, sensory ecology, and neural basis of behavior—using primarily invertebrate models.
Honors include: Princeton Review Best Professors, TOW Distinguished Teaching Award, Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society, Grass Fellowship at Woods Hole MBL, Invited Professor at University of New South Wales (Australia), Faculty Best Professor Award, New York State Regents Scholar, Distinction in Medieval and Renaissance Culture Studies, and Faculty “Awesomeness Award.”
Professor Basil’s research expertise includes: Animal learning and memory, evolution of brain and behavioral complexity, using invertebrate models. Conservation biology.
Certificate of Apprenticeship, New York State School of Performing Arts (Theatre -- Circle Reperatory Company, New York), 1982
B.S. (magna cum laude), SUNY-Albany (Biology and Chemistry; Medieval and Renaissance Culture), 1986
M.Sc., University of Massachusetts - Amherst (Zoology), 1990
Ph.D., University of Massachusetts - Amherst (Zoology), 1993
Biographic Article by Kate Evans on our work https://www.biographic.com/downward-spiral/
Lewandowski, N. and J. Basil. Mating in Nautiluses: Preference for opposite-sex odor over same-sex odor in a choice test, in revision, Int. J. Ethology. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2020
Ashfaq, M., Lewandowski, N. and J. Basil. Endogenous circadian rhythms in activity in the Chambered Nautilus. In revision.
Barord, G. J., Beydoun, M., Bruce, S., Li, V., Ward, P. D., & Basil, J. (2021).COVER ARTICLE. Foraging and scavenging in nautilus (Nautilus sp.) L.(Cl. Cephalopoda). Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology, 54(5-6), 241-261.
Barord, G., Ju, Cheng Hui, *Derman, R., *Vargas, T, and J. Basil. Dual memory streams in Chambered Nautilus: Beacon homing overshadows route learning in a spatial task. In revision.
Lewandowski, N. and J. Basil. Mating in Oval Squids: Habitat preference for courtship displays, in preparation.
Basil, J. and R Crook. (2017) Learning and Memory in the Living Fossil, the Chambered Nautilus. In, Physiology of Molluscs, A.S. Saleuddin and S. T. Mukai, eds. Apple Academic Press.
Shomrat, T., Turchetti-Maia, A. L., Stern-Mentch, N., Basil, J. A., & Hochner, B. (2016). The vertical lobe of cephalopods: an attractive brain structure for understanding the evolution of advanced learning and memory systems. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 201(9), 947-956.
Fiorito, G., Affuso, A., Anderson, D. B., Basil, J., Bonnaud, L., Botta, G.... & (2014) Cephalopods in neuroscience: regulations, research and the 3Rs. Invertebrate Neuroscience, 14 (1): 13-36.
Barord, G. J. and J. Basil (2014) Nautilus Culture and Care. In, Cephalopod Culture, P. Eglesias, Ed, Springer.
Crook, R. and J. Basil (2013) Flexible spatial orientation and navigational strategies in Chambered Nautilus. Ethology 119: 77-85.
Crook, R. and J. Basil. "Flexible Spatial Orientation and Navigational Strategies." Chambered Nautilus. Ethology 119: 77-85.
Basil, J. and R. Crook. "Cognition: Evolution of Behavioral and Neural Complexity: Lessons From the Living Fossil, Chambered Nautilus." Cambridge University Press.
J. Basil and R. Crook (2013) Book Chapter: Nautilus, in Cephalopod Cognition. Cambridge University Press.
Barord, G.J. and J. Basil. "Nautilus Culture and Care." Cephalopod Culture. Ed. P. Eglesias. Springer. In press.
Barord, G., C. Ju, L. Travis, T. Vargas and J. Basil. "A Successful Medical Treatment for Mucodegeneration in Chambered Nautilus, a Previously Fatal Condition in This Living Fossil." Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine.
Basil, J., G. Barord, C. Ju, L. Travis and T. Vargas. "A Synthetic Approach to the Study of Behavior in Chambered Nautilus." VIE ET MILIEU: Life and Environment 61.4. Part of the series "Behaviour in Cephalopods: Underlying Mechanisms and Methodological Approaches." Eds. Michael Kuba, Tamar Gutnick and Sigurd V. Boletzky.
Basil, J. and F. Grasso. "Perspectives on the Evolution of Complex Brains and Behaviors in Cephalopods." Brain Behaviour and Evolution.
"Chambered Nautilus." World Book Encyclopedia.
Zartarian, M. and J. Basil. "Environmentally Relevant Levels of Ethinyl Estradiol Increase Speed of Learning and Length of Retention in an Associative Task in 3-spined Sticklebacks." Aquatic Toxicology.
Curator, "Nautilus Biology," Scholarpedia.
Crook, R. and J. Basil. "Memory of Visual and Topographical Features Suggests Spatial Learning in the Ancient Cephalopod Nautilus Pompilius." Journal of Comparative Psychology 123: 164-74.
Grasso, F. and J. Basil. "The Evolution of Flexible Behavioral Repertoires in Cephalopod Molluscs." Brain, Behavior and Evolution 74.3: 231-45.
Crook, R. and J. Basil. "Nautilus Provides Insights into the Evolution of the Cephalopod Brain." Society for Neuroscience Abstr.
Crook, R. and J. Basil. "Living Fossil Memories." Journal of Experimental Biology 211: iii.
J. Exp. Biology. https://jeb.biologists.org/content/211/12/iii
New Scientist: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14033-simple-minded-nautilus-reveals-flash-of-memory/
Crook, R. and J. Basil. "A Biphasic Memory Curve in the Chambered Nautilus, Nautilus pompilius L. (Cephalopoda: Nautiloidea)." Journal of Experimental Biology 211: 1992-98.
Crook, R. and J. Basil. "A Role for Nautilus in Studies of the Evolution of Brain and Behavior." Communicative & Integrative Biology 1.1: 1-3.
Soucier, C.P. and J. Basil. "Detection of Underwater Vibrations by the Chambered Nautilus, Nautilus pompilius." American Journal of Malacology: 1-17.
Basil, J., I. Bahctinova, K. Kuroiwa, N. Lee, M. Preis and C. Soucier. "The Role that Tentacles and Rhinophores Play in Odor-Mediated Behavior in Chambered Nautilus." Freshwater and Marine Behavior and Physiology 38.3: 209-21.
--"Robot Lobsers." USA Today. November. --"Learning in Ptarmigans." Nature News. September 2001.
Grasso, F. and J. Basil. "How Lobsters, Crayfishes, and Crabs Find Important Sources of Odor: Current Perspectives and Future Directions." Current Opinion in Neurobiology 12.6: 721-27.
Basil, J., W. Lazenby, L. Nakanuku and R. Hanlon. "Female Nautilus Are Attracted to the Odor of Male Conspecifics." Bulletin of Marine Science 70: 217-25.
Voigt, R., J. Basil and J. Atema. "American Lobsters Track and Locate Distant 'Leaky' Odor Sources." Chemical Senses 24.
Grasso, F. and J. Basil. "Antennule Morphology and Olfactory Sampling Strategy: Lessons from the Lobster." American Zoologist 40.6: 1032.
Basil, J.A. and D.C. Sandeman. "Australian Freshwater Crayfish Detect Small Spatial Changes in Their Habitat Using Only Tactile Cues." Ethology 106: 247-59.
Basil, J.A., S. Sheikh, R. Hanlon and J. Atema. "Three-Dimensional Odor Tracking by Nautilus." Journal of Experimental Biology 203.9: 1409-14. Cover article.
Grasso, F., J. Basil and J. Atema. "Toward the Convergence: Robot and Lobster Perspectives of Tracking Odors to Their Source in the Turbulent Marine Environment." BioMimetic Robots ISIC/CIRA/ISA-98.
Co-PI: American Cancer Society: Diversity in Cancer Research Institutional Development Grant (DICR IDG) titled "Supporting Cancer Research at Brooklyn College Cancer Center, a Highly Diverse Institution." $2.6 million over four years.
Co-PI: Gray Foundation Grant: Brooklyn College Cancer Center Operation Support. January-December 2023. $100,000. (Awards and Honors)
Co-PI: Gray Foundation Grant: Brooklyn College Cancer Center Operation Support. January-December 2024. $100,000. (Awards and Honors) (Grants and Fellowships) 2023
Gray Foundation Grant: Brooklyn College Cancer Center Operation Support. January-December 2023. $100,000. Co-PI. (Awards and Honors)
Ambassador, American Cancer Society: ResearcHERs campaign.
National Science Foundation (Funded, Aug 2021):RCN-UBE Incubator Title: The STEM Career Exploration Laboratory Network PI: Anjana Saxena, Co-PI: Zhongqi Cheng (EES); Alam Nur-E-Kamal (NYC Tech),Jennifer Basil (Biology), Diana Samaroo (MEC)
Claire Tow Award for Distinguished Teaching
GRANT FUNDING: Binational Israel-USA Foundation (Oct 2012-2017) "Functional mapping of learning-induced activity in the CNS of Nautilus, an ancient cephalopod" PI (Dr Binyamin Hochner, CoPI). $180,000.
Princeton Review: 300 Top Professors in the United States, 2012
"Can the Chambered Nautilus Detect Sound?" Grass Foundation (pending). $10,000.
Listed in The Princeton Review's America's 300 Best Professors.
BSF: USA-Israel Binational Science Foundation, for "Functional Mapping of Learning-induced Activity in the CNS of Nautilus, a Plesiomorphic Cephalopod. Binyamin Hochner, co-PI. November. $200,000.
Grant proposal reviewer, Integrative and Organismic Biology, National Science Foundation.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: Program panelist, Integrative Organismic Systems.
NSF proposal, for "Developing a STEM-based Research Program for an Early College STEM High School." Jennifer Basil, Ted Raphan, Kathleen Axen, Sofia Perdikaris and Manuel Pons, co-principal investigators. CCLI Phase 2. January.
Award for Awesomeness, ad hoc awesomeness committee for Brooklyn College student researchers.
Founders Award Competition, Evolution of Behavioral Complexity in Cephalopod Molluscs. Animal Behavior Meetings, William and Mary College. Williamsburg, Va.
Grant reviewer, National Science Foundation.
NSF Proposal, for "Evolution of Complex Behavior: Characterization of Learning and Memory in Nautilus Pompilius." Jennifer Basil, John Chamberlain (Brooklyn College) and Roger Hanlon (Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass.), co-principal investigators. $696,132. Pending.
PSC-CUNY Award, for "Timing of Learning and Memory Formation in Chambered Nautilus." $4,600.
Genesis Best Undergraduate Research Award, runner up. Animal Behavior Society Meeting. Burlington, Vt.
"Evolution of Complex Behavior: Characterization of Learning and Memory in Nautilus Pompilius." NSF Proposal. Submitted July. $596,132.
National Science Foundation, for "Developing a STEM Curriculum for Early College Programs: A High School to College Continuum." Co-principal investigators: Chaya Gurwitz, Sophia P. Perdikaris, Theodore Raphan and Elizabeth I. Sklar. (Brooklyn College, $149,917, 25% indirect cost, two years, 8% effort, requested release time). 2007-09.
"Developing a STEM Curriculum for Early College Programs: A High School to College Continuum." Co-principal investigators: Chaya Gurwitz, Sophia P. Perdikaris, Theodore Raphan and Elizabeth I Sklar. National Science Foundation (2007-09). (Brooklyn College, $149,917, 25% indirect cost, two years, 8% effort, requested release time).
"The Ability of Chambered Nautilus to Detect Underwater Sound." Submitted to Grass Foundation. $10,000.
Best Biology Professor, NBSSO.
Genesis Award for Best Undergraduate Research. Animal Behavor Society Meeting. Utah, August.
WINNER Genesis Award for Best Undergraduate Research, Kanwal Gulzar, Honors Researcher: Animal Behavor Society Meeting. Utah, August.
Winner, Best Overall Professor Faculty Award. Brooklyn College.
Best Biology Professor, Broeklundian, Brooklyn College.
Best Biology Professor, Broeklundian Brooklyn College.
Best Biology Professor, NBSSO.
Best Biology Professor, NBSSO.
Best Biology Professor, Chemistry Society.
Best Biology Professor, NBSSO.
NSF-sponsored Workshop on Bioinspiration and Biodiversity in Brunei. Invited workshop participant.
Friday Harbor Marine Laboratory site visit, January.
--Evolutionary Biology of the Chambered Nautilus: 1) Behavioral and neural correlates of learning and memory in Nautilus, 2) Function of the chemosensory appendages of Nautilus in foraging, 3) Use of odor in identifying conspecifics and mates, 4) Biomechanics of the radula in feeding in Nautilus. --Tactile Learning and Memory in Crustaceans: 1) Metric versus topological coding of space in freshwater crayfish, 2) Duration of memory for tactile information in freshwater crayfish, 3) Structure of memory for tactile information in freshwater crayfish. --Comparative Olfactory Biology of Spiny Lobster: 1) Comparative morphology of antennules of five species of Spiny Lobster (American Museum of Natural History; Smithsonian), 2) Comparative orientation behavior of five species of spiny lobster. --Aquatic Toxicology: 1) Effects of environmental contaminants (Endocrine disrupting compounds) on the behavior of local fishes (four-spined sticklebacks).
Health Disparities and Women of Color Panel Discussion, co-hosted with BC Black Student Union.
Second Brooklyn Colorectal Cancer Symposium, March 2022, Outreach: Debunking Myths About Colorectal Cancer.
Community Health Needs Assessment Leadership Performance: Memorial Sloan Kettering; May 19, 2022
First Brooklyn Colorectal Cancer Symposium, March 2021, Outreach: Stomping out Colorectal Cancer.
Invited Talk, CUNY Ph.D Program in Cognitive and Comparative Psychology: "Cephalopods as an experimental model for the role of convergence in the evolution of large brains and complex behavior." Bucknell University, Nov 5, 2021.
Invited Talk, CUNY Ph.D Program in Cognitive and Comparative Psychology: "Cephalopods as an experimental model for the role of convergence in the evolution of large brains and complex behavior." April 30, 2021
7 PRESENTATIONS (2015-2019) Lewandowski, Ashfaq, Syed, Quais, Basil (2019) Mating Behaviors in a Variety of Cephalopods. Animal Behavior, 2019. *Lewandowski, Ashfaq, Syed, Quais, Basil (2018) Factors enhancing the likelihood of mating in Nautilid and Coleoid Cephalopods. Animal Behavior, 2018. *Lewandowski, Ashfaq, Syed, Quais, Basil (2018) Female mate choice in Chambered Nautilus. Comparative Cognition, 2018 *Ashfaq, Lewandowski, Cohen, Syed, Basil (2017) Circadian rhythms in the social activity of Chambered Nautilus. Comparative Cognition, April 2017 *Lewandowski, Ashfaq, Cohen, and Basil (2016) "Endogenous daily rhythms in activity in Chambered Nautilus". Comparative Cognition, March, 2016 Basil,J., Grasso F., and B. Hochner (2016) What complex invertebrates can teach us about the evolution of brain complexity. Basil, Barord, Derman*, Ju, Li* and Vargas* (2015) "Beacon versus route learning in Chambered Nautilus". Comparative Cognition, March, 2015
3 INVITED PRESENTATIONS: April 2017 *Lewandowski, Ashfaq, Cohen, and Basil (2016) "Endogenous daily rhythms in activity in Chambered Nautilus". Comparative Cognition, March, 2016 Basil,J., Grasso F., and B. Hochner (2016) What complex invertebrates can teach us about the evolution of brain complexity. Basil, Barord, Derman*, Ju, Li* and Vargas* (2015) "Beacon versus route learning in Chambered Nautilus". Comparative Cognition, March, 2015
Basil, J. Comparative perspectives on the evolution of complex brains and behaviors in Cephalopod. Comparative Cognition Conference, Keynote session in honor of Alan C. Kamil, Melbourne Florida, March 9, 2014.
"The Role of Convergence in the Evolution of Large Brains." CABI Conference. April.
C. McEntee, J.Basil and K.Axen. Application of Improvisation Theory to Teaching. Roundtable. Brooklyn College Faculty Day (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2013
"Perspectives on the Evolution of Brain Complexity in Cephalopod Molluscs." Neuroscience Department, Downstate Medical Center. Feb. 13.
Basil, J. Perspectives on the evolution of brain complexity in Cephalopod Molluscs. Downstate Medical Center, Neuroscience Department, February 13, 2013.
Grasso, F., M. Evans, J. Basil and A. Prescott. "Toward a Fusion Model of Feature and Spatial Tactile Memory in the Crayfish Cherax Destructor." Living Machines. Barcelona, Spain.
Volz, S., J. Basil and F. Grasso. "Crayfish Inspired Representation of Space via Haptic Memory in Simulated Robotic Agents." Living Machines. Barcelona, Spain.
Basil, J. and F. Grasso. "Perspectives on the Evolution of Complex Brains and Behaviors in Cephalopods." JB Johnson Club, Society for Neuroscience Meetings. New Orleans, October.
"Living Fossil Memories." Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Inter-university Marine Institute. Eilat, Israel, June 27.
"Living Fossil Memories." Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Eilat, Israel.
"Nautilus." Meeting for an European Proposal of a Consortium for Genome Sequencing of Octopus vulgaris. Naples, Italy, April 23-25.
"Nautilus." Meeting for an European Proposal of a Consortium for Genome sequencing of Octopus vulgaris. Naples, Italy, April.
"Nautilus." Meeting of Technical Experts to Develop Guidelines on Care and Welfare of Cephalopods in Research. Naples, Italy, April 19-23.
"Nautilus." Meeting of Technical Experts to Develop Guidelines on Care and Welfare of Cephalopods in Research. Naples, Italy, April.
"Neural Substrate of Learning: Ancient Possibilities." Silberman Institute for Life Sciences, Hebrew University. Jerusalem, July.
"Neural Substrate of Learning: Ancient Possibilities?" Silberman Institute for Life Sciences, Hebrew University. Jerusalem, July.
Program Committee for the Living Machines, 2012 Conference in Barcelona, Spain, July 9-12.
"Complex Learning and Memory in the Plesiomorphic Cephalopod, Nautilus pompilius" seminar. University of Connecticut, Hartford.
"Dynamic Switching Among Navigational Tactics in a Living Fossil." University of Caen. Caen France.
"Evolution of Brain Complexity." Psychology Department, University of Sheffield. Sheffield, England. November.
"The Evolution of Flexible Behavioral Repertoires Using Cephalopod Molluscs as a Model System" seminar. Dalhousie University. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Basil, J., R. Crook and F. Grasso. "Where Do Complex Brains Come From? The Evolution of Flexible Behavioral Repertoires Using Cephalopod Molluscs as a Model System." Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology Conference. Seattle, January.
Basil,J., R. Crook and F. Grasso. "The Evolution of Flexible Behavioral Repertoires Using Cephalopod Molluscs as a Model System." Founders Award Session, Animal Behavior Society. Virginia, July.
Symposium co-chairperson, "Learning in a Living Fossil." Complexity in Invertebrate Behavior Symposium. Society for Neuroethology. Salamanca, Spain, August.
Crook, R. and J. Basil. "Characteristics of Spatial Memory in Chambered Nautilus." Society for Neuroscience Meetings. Chicago, October.
Volz, S., J. Basil and F. Grasso. "A Computational Model of Haptic Spatial Learning in Cherax Destructor." Society for Neuroscience Meetings. Chicago.
"Learning in a Living Fossil, Experimental Approaches." Invertebrate Neuroscience Meetings. San Juan, Puerto Rico, February 13.
Crook, R. and J. Basil. "Nautilus Provides Insights into the Evolution of the Cephalopod Brain." Society for Neuroscience Meetings, Washington D.C., November.
Gurwitz, C., J. Basil, S. Perdikaris and T. Raphan. "Developing a STEM Curriculum for Early College Programs: A High School to College Continuum." The Sixth International Conference on Education and Information Systems, Technologies and Applications. June.
"Evolution of Olfaction in Cephalopods." Department of Geology, City University of New York, April.
Crook, R. and J. Basil. "Long-Term Spatial Memory in the Chambered Nautilus." Animal Behavior Society Meeting. Vermont, July.
Kuroiwa, K. and J. Basil. "EDCs Have Long-Term Effects on Predation Risk in 4-Spined Sticklebacks." Animal Behavior Society Meeting. Vermont, July.
Kuroiwa, K. and J. Basil. "Effects on Activity of Exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Compound Ethinyl Estradiol in 4-Spined Sticklebacks." Society for Aquatic Toxicology, November.
"Olfaction in Ancient Seas: Evolution of Olfaction in Cephalopod Mollusks." NSF National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (Evolution of Chemosensation Working Group). Durham, N.C., June.
"The Sensory Ecology of the Chambered Nautilus." Queens College.
Basil, J. and C. Soucier. "Detection of Underwater Vibration in the Chambered Nautilus." American Malacological Society. Seattle, July.
Gulzar, K., Adewale Adenuga, Inna Arbit, Sofia Ashraf, Zunaira Ashraf, Rina Basin, Miriam Eichenbaum, Moses Feaster,Crystal Goodseit, Kevin Kleiner, Jane Lam, Lina Lukina, Inna Soybelman and J. Basil. "Working and Reference Components to Spatial Memory in Freshwater Crayfish." Animal Behavor Society Meeting. Utah, August. Winner: Genesis Award Competition for Best Undergraduate Research.
Kuroiwa, K. and J. Basil. "Long-Term Behavioral Effects of Exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Compound Ethinyl Estradiol in 4-Spined Sticklebacks." Society for Aquatic Toxicology. November.
Basil, J., Inna Arbit, Zunaira Ashraf, Rina Basin, Moses Feaster, Kanwal Gulzar, Kevin Kleiner, Lina Lukina and Inna Soybelman. "Working and Reference Components to Spatial Memory in Freshwater Crayfish." International Behavioural Ecology Meeting. Tours, France, July.
Crook, R. and J. Basil. "Classical Conditioning Indicates Short- and Long-Term Memory Stores in Chambered Nautilus." Animal Behavior Society Meeting. Utah, August.
Kuroiwa, K. and J. Basil. "Long-Term Behavioral Effects of Exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Compound Ethinyl Estradiol in 4-Spined Sticklebacks." Animal Behavior Society Meeting. Utah, August.
"Navigating in a Complex World: Animal Models for Human Problems." Institute for Behavioral Analysis, University of Guadalajara, Mexico.
Basil, J. and C. Soucier. "Detection of Underwater Vibration in the Chambered Nautilus." American Malacological Society. Seattle, July.
Basil, J. and C. Soucier. "The Function of the Statocyst in the Chambered Nautilus." International Ethological Congress, Invited Cephalopod Symposium. Budapest, Hungary.
Basil, J. and C. Soucier. "The Function of the Statocyst in the Chambered Nautilus." International Ethological Congress, Invited Cephalopod Symposium. Budapest, Hungary, August.
Basil, J. and C. Soucier. "The Function of the Statocyst in the Chambered Nautilus." International Ethological Congress, Invited Cephalopod Symposium, Budapest, Hungary, August.
"Crunchy Cognition and Squishy Sentience." Brooklyn College Cognitive Science Colloquium, March.
"Navigating in a Complex World: Animal Models for Human Problems." Institute for Behavioral Analysis, University of Guadalajara. Guadalajara, Mexico, June.
Feaster, M.M., M.S. Barach, K. Gulzar, Z. Romney, O. Semchemkova, I.V. Soybelman, H. Taslima, A. Zaheer and J. Basil. "Working and Reference Components of Memory in Freshwater Crayfish." International Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Genesis Award Competition. Oaxaca, Mexico, June.
Dunehy, A., M. Martineau, D. Klein, J. Basil and F. Grasso. "Patterns of Foraging and Communal Nest Use Among Naturalized Monk Parrots in Brooklyn." Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Boise State University. Boise, Idaho, July.
"Ecology and Behavior of the Chambered Nautilus." Biology Department and Women in Science Organization, Amherst College. Amherst, Mass., December.
"Latent Learning and Tactile Exploration in Crayfish." Biology Department, Hofstra University. Hempstead, New York, March.
Bard, S., A. Bermeo, M. Feaster, K. Gates, N. Horchner, K. Service, Y. Voloshchuk and J. Basil. "Freshwater Crayfish Learn and Remember Metric Features of Their Environment." Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Boise State University. Boise, Idaho, July.
Basil, J., I. Bahctinova, K. Kuroiwa, N. Lee, M. Preis and C. Soucier. "Sensory Biology of the Chambered Nautilus." Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Founders Award Competition, Indiana Univeristy.
Voigt, R., J. Basil and J. Atema. "American Lobsters Track and Locate Distant "Leaky" Odor Sources." Association for the Chemoreception Sciences. Sarasota, Fla., April.
"Chemical Ecology of the Chambered Nautilus." Neurobiology and Behavior Department, Cornell University. Ithaca, N.Y., March.
Basil, J., N. Belova and A. Neymark. "Tactile Aspects of Environmental Mapping in the Freshwater Crayfish, Procambarus clarkii." Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Oregon State University. July.
Dale, J., S. Schreiber, B. Talon, B. and J. Basil. "Laser Pointer Use by Professional Scientists at National Meetings: The Showier the Animal, the Showier the Pointing." Animal Behavior Society Meetings, Moorehouse University. Atlanta, August.
Grasso, F. and J. Basil. "Antennue Morphology and Olfactory Sampling: Comparative Lessons from the Lobster." Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Chicago, January.
"Invertebrate Sensory Information Processing, Implications for Biologically Inspired Autonomous Systems" official facilitator. ISIP/NASA converence on robotics, National Academy of Sciences. Woods Hole, Mass., April.
Vice-Director, Brooklyn College Cancer Center, BCCC-CURE
Presidential Committee: Advisory Committee on Campus Safety,
Associate Director for Community Outreach and Education, Brooklyn College
Presidential Committee: Advisory Committee on Campus Safety.
Symposium: Second Annual Brooklyn Breast Cancer Symposium (BCCC-CURE with Downstate Medical Center), Oct 2022
Associate Director for Community Outreach and Education, Brooklyn College Cancer Center.
Supervisory Committee: Haitian Studies Institute, Brooklyn College, NY
Policy Council, Subcommittee on Faculty/Student Relations.
Strategic Enrollment Committee
Associate Director for Community Outreach and Education, Brooklyn College Cancer Center (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2022
2016-2019: Chair, Biology Department, Brooklyn College
2016-2019: Chair, Biology Department, Brooklyn College
2016-2019: Chair, Biology Department, Brooklyn College
2016-2019: Chair, Biology Department, Brooklyn College
EXPERT SCIENTIST, USFWS, Committee to list Nautilus pompilius to the Convention for the International Trade of Endangered Species. Nautilus LISTED 2016.
Full Professor, City University of NY, Brooklyn College
Co-organizer: International Meeting for Behavioral Ecology.
Acting chairperson, CUNY Ph.D. Program in Evolution, Ecology and Behavior.
Member, Biology Appointments Committee, 2010-present.
Member, Neuroscience Concentration Committee.
BBC: "The Code." Chambered Nautilus and its shell's perfect logarithmic spiral -- ancient architecture, ancient brains. Segment on BBC, April.
Member, Biology and Pre-Health Advisory Committee, Brooklyn College.
Member, Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Search Committee.
Member, Zicklin Microbiology Chair Search.
Academic Disciplinary Committee
Chairperson, Admissions Ph.D. Program in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior.
Chairperson, Curriculum Committee, Biology Department.
Chairperson, First exams, Ph.D. Program in Evolution, Ecology and Behavior.
Education Committee, Animal Behavior Society, 2006-present.
Member, Biology Appointments Committee, 1999-2008.
Member, EEB Steering Committee, Ph.D. Program in Evolution, Ecology and Behavior.
Phi Beta Kappa, Admissions Committee, 2005-present.
PSC-CUNY Research Awards Review Committee.
STAR High School Advisory Committee, 2006-present.
Deputy chairperson, Biology Department.
Academic Disciplinary Committee, 2007-present.
Alliance for Minority Participation in Research, 2001-present.
Appointments Committee, 2001-07.
Diversity Committee, Animal Behavior Society, 2002-present.
Faculty Day Committee, 2003-2009.
Mentor, Intel/Westinghouse Competition, 1999-present.
Minority Access to Research Careers, 2004-present.
Neuroscience Search Committee, Biology/Psychology, 2006-07.
Website Committee, 1999-present.
Associate director, AREAC Marine Facility, Brooklyn College.
Grade Appeals Committee, 2000-06.
Chairwoman, Policy Committee, Animal Behavior Society, 2003-04.
Structural Biologist Search Committee, 2003-04.
Chairwoman, Policy Committee, Animal Behavior Society, 2003-04.
Session leader, "Learning and Cognition," ABS Meetings, July.
Seminar Committee, 2001-02.
Session leader, "Learning," Animal Behavior Meetings, July.
Facilitator, NASA workshop on robotics, April.
Claire Tow Award for Distinguished Teaching
Princeton Review: 300 Top Professors in the United States, 2012
Basil, J. and C. Braun and P. Moller (Hunter College), co-instructors, Ph.D. course in animal behavior, 2008-present.
Undergraduate: BIO 15: Urban Field Botany; BIO 45.1: Zoology; BIO 45.1: Laboratory Studies of Zoology; BIO 73: Research for Undergraduates (I-V); BIO 83: Honors Research for Undergraduates (I-V); BIO 85: Honors Colloquium. Graduate: BIO 793.01: Cognitive Ethology; BIO 793.02: Research Methods in the Behavioral Sciences; BIO 793.02: Evolution of Intelligent Behavior; BIO 793.03: Advanced Animal Behavior; BIO 792: Guided Readings (master's, doctoral); BIO 794.03: Animal Behavior II (co-instructor); BIO 799.1/799.2: Master's Thesis; BIO 900: Doctoral Dissertation.
Winner, Best Overall Professor Faculty Award. Brooklyn College.
Mentor, semi-finalists in Intel Westinghouse Competition (Alysia Neymark and Nadezhda Belova), "Visual and Olfactory Spatial Processing in Procambarus clarkii." Recipients of full scholarships to MIT for their work.
Member: NY State HPV Coalition.
Community Advisory Board (Tisch Mt. Sinai Cancer Center Outreach), Risk Reduction, Early Detection and Screening Work group
Co-Organizer, Brooklyn College Cancer Center and Student Union Wellness Fair, Brooklyn College, May 2023.
BCCC-CURE Symposium: Q and A for BC Staff: conversations that save lives.
Invited participants (BCCC-CURE): STRIDES. Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Oct 2022, Brooklyn NY
Co-Organizer, Brooklyn College Cancer Center Wellness Fair, Brooklyn College, April 28, 2022.
Mentor, high-school researchers, Midwood and Erasmus high schools, Brooklyn.
College Wide Committee: POLICY COMMITTEE, Member
College Wide Committee: COMMITTEE ON COLLEGE INTEGRITY AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM, Member
2016-2019: Chair, Biology Department, Brooklyn College
2016-2019: Chair, Biology Department, Brooklyn College
National Science Foundation, Proposal Reviewer
PodCast and Video: Experimentals, Nautilus. https://vimeo.com/274927928
Popular Science: Nautilus will make you rethink intelligence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UYFCiV0r4c
Radio Show: "You're the Expert". https://theexpertshow.com/blog/2018/6/12/more-about-jennifer-basil-and-the-chambered-nautilus
2016-2019: Chair, Biology Department, Brooklyn College
National Science Foundation, Proposal Reviewer
JOURNAL REVIEWER: 1998-present Animal Behavior (1993-present) Animal Learning (2010-present) J. Comp. Physiol (2010-present) Animal Cognition (2010 - present) Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology (2006-present) Biological Bulletin (1993-present) Cognition (2006-present) Comparative Cognition (2007-present) Ethology (1999-present) Journal of Experimental Biology (1995-present) Marine and Freshwater Behavior and Physiology (1997-present) Marine Biology (2003-present) PNAS (2010-present) P. Roy. Soc. Lond (2010-present) Robotica (2006-present)
2016-2019: Chair, Biology Department, Brooklyn College
National Science Foundation, Proposal Reviewer
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, Science Fridays, June 2015, "Cephalopod Week!"
National Science Foundation, Proposal Reviewer
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: Panelist-Integrative and Organismic Biology
Nature's Talk Show: Radio interview. http://naturestalkshow.com/2015/01/nautilus-hour-dr-jennifer-basil/
Podcast Guest, Deep Sea Radio, "Chambered Nautilus learning and memory".
https://curiosityseeds.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/nautilus-rising-a-living-fossils-unexpected-renaissance/
National Science Foundation, Proposal Reviewer
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, Proposal Reviewer
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: Panelist-Integrative and Organismic Biology
National Science Foundation, Proposal Reviewer
National Science Foundation, Proposal Reviewer
NSF Panelist-Integrative and Organismic Biology
Member, Animal Behaviour Society, American Ornithological Union, American Society of Zoologists, Association for Chemoreception Sciences, Crustacean Society, International Society for the Study of Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Neuroethology, Malacological Society, Society for Neuroscience.