Awards

National Academies - 2006

American Association for the Advancement of Science

About Jeffrey Alberts

Professor Alberts studies ontogeny of species-typical behavior; maturation of sensory and physiological processes; and development of learning and memory. Dr. Albert's research program is dedicated to describing and elucidating functional and mechanistic aspects of the development of species-typical behavior in rodents. Currently, he is studying sensory and motor capabilities in fetal rats as a means of understanding adaptation to prenatal life as well as anticipation of the postnatal environment. Dr. Alberts is analyzing the ultrasonic vocalizations of infant rodents, not just as a form of acoustic communication with the parent, but also as an aspect of early thermal and oxygen homeostasis. Both of these lines of research reflect the combined behavioral and physiological approach often used in his laboratory. Studies of weaning in rodents are another part of the program, for the transition from suckling to independent feeding is a universal developmental process in mammalian ontogenesis. Because parents are a part of a mammal's typical environment, Dr. Albert's lab also is devoted to novel analyses of parental behavior, including biparental care, and parent-offspring interactions.

He received his BA in psychology from McMaster University (1969), MA in comparative psychology from McMaster University (1970), MA in neural science and behavior from Princeton University (1972) and his PhD in neural science and behavior from Princeton in 1974. He is a member of the Animal Behavior Society, the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, President (1985-1986), American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology, American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society, and Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.