Biology Seminar Series: Dr. Todd Streelman

By: McKensie Le Fevre

tamu biology speaker todd streelmanDr. Todd Streelman to Speak at Texas A&M University Biology

COLLEGE STATION, TX — The Department of Biology at Texas A&M University is proud to announce an upcoming seminar featuring Dr. Todd Streelman, Professor and Chair of the School of Biological Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The seminar, titled “Cellular Profiling of a Recently Evolved Social Behavior in Cichlid Fishes,” will take place on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, at 4:00 PM in BSBE 115. The event will be hosted by Dr. Rachel Moran.

Dr. Streelman’s research employs experimental and computational approaches to understand the genetic, cellular, and evolutionary bases of development and behavior in animals from nature, most notably the species flock of cichlid fishes from Lake Malawi, Africa. His research program is funded by the U.S. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Dr. Streelman has been recognized for his contributions as an Alfred P. Sloan Postdoctoral Fellow, an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, and an NSF CAREER Awardee.

This seminar is part of the department’s ongoing effort to bring leading voices in biological research to the Texas A&M community. It is free and open to the public, offering students, faculty, and community members a unique chance to learn about groundbreaking research directly from one of the field’s leaders.

Event Details:

  • Speaker: Dr. Todd Streelman, Professor and Chair, School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Host: Dr. Rachel Moran
  • Topic: Cellular Profiling of a Recently Evolved Social Behavior in Cichlid Fishes
  • Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2025
  • Time: 4:00 PM
  • Location: BSBE 115

For additional information about the event, please visit https://www.bio.tamu.edu/seminars/

Abstract: Social behaviors are diverse, but it is unclear how conserved genes, brain regions, and cell populations generate this diversity. In this seminar, Dr. Streelman will discuss his recent research on bower building, a recently evolved social behavior in cichlid fishes. Using single-nucleus RNA sequencing of multiple individuals, his team has identified signatures of recent building behavior in specific neuronal populations and building-associated rebalancing of neuronal proportions in the putative fish hippocampus.

Through comparative genomics across cichlid species, they have traced bower-associated genome evolution to a subpopulation of radial glia lining the dorsal forebrain. Their findings suggest that building-associated neural activity and departure from quiescence in this glial subpopulation regulate hippocampal-like neuronal rebalancing. This research links specific brain cell types to the genomic basis of behavior and suggests that a social behavior has evolved through changes in glia.


About the Speaker Dr. Todd Streelman is a distinguished researcher in evolutionary biology, genetics, and neuroscience. His lab integrates experimental and computational techniques to investigate the fundamental principles governing animal development and behavior. His extensive research on cichlid fishes has provided critical insights into the mechanisms of behavioral evolution.