Cynthia Gill
Dean of Science and Associate Professor of Physiology
Cynthia Gill, dean of Natural Science, Cognitive Science, and Critical Social Inquiry and associate professor of physiology, received her B.S. in biology from the University of North Carolina and her Ph.D. in neuroendocrinology from the University of Virginia.
Professor Gill did postdoctoral research at the University of Texas examining the development of brain steroid receptor regulation in parthenogenetic and gender-reversed lizards. She also studies neural regulation and connectivity in response to hormonally-mediated environmental cues. Her interests span the areas of human and comparative physiology, neuroscience, endocrinology, herpetology, conservation biology, and behavioral biology. She's also a triathlete and adventure racer with an interest in exercise physiology.
Recent and Upcoming Courses
-
Animal Physiology: This course will cover physiology of organ systems in a variety of animal phyla, including vertebrates and invertebrates. Topics may include nutrition, temperature regulation and neural, cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, digestive and endocrine function. One focus will be on cellular and molecular mechanisms common across systems and phyla. We will spend some time outdoors and at the Hampshire College Farm. Students will engage in class problems, discussion, and reading of text and primary science literature. Keywords:Biology, physiology, animal, health
-
Explore the function of the endocrine system and its role in behavior, specifically as examined in animal model systems. The social, nutritional and sensory environment of an organism can dramatically affect the expression of specific hormones. Those hormones, in turn, can determine the development, degree of plasticity and output of the nervous system. Thus, the behavior of an organism is set in a background of endocrine influences. This course examines the endocrine system and how it interacts with the nervous system to influence behavior in a range of organisms. This course includes basics of nervous and endocrine system physiology and anatomy and behaviors such as parental and reproductive behavior, feeding, and aggression. Students will analyze the primary scientific literature, write short papers, and develop a major independent paper that they present to the class Keywords:brain, behavior, animal, biology, science
-
Stress is a daily part of our lives that has become an intense subject of interest among scientists and the medical community. The body's responses to stress are linked to multiple health problems, but stress can also be overused as an explanation. In this course, we will examine the scientific evidence for the links between stress and human health issues such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and depression. This will include readings of primary scientific research papers and coverage of basic physiological mechanisms in humans and other animals. Students will learn techniques to measure stress and stress hormones. KEYWORDS: Biology, psychology, health, medicine, neuroscience
