Jason Keagy

Jason Keagy is Assistant Research Professor of Wildlife Behavioral Ecology in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Penn State University, where he has served since 2020. He earned a Ph.D. in Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2010, with a dissertation titled “Cognitive performance and the evolution of multiple behavioral display traits.” He received a B.S. in Biology from the College of William and Mary in 2003, graduating summa cum laude with honors in Biology and a minor in Computer Science; his honors thesis was “Habitat destruction and source-sink dynamics: Are wetlands going down the drain?” Prior appointments include Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2016-2020), Postdoctoral Research Associate at Michigan State University (2010-2016), and Adjunct Research Associate at Michigan State University (2016-2021).

Keagy's research focuses on cognitive ecology at genome, individual, and species levels, investigating animal cognition, behavioral flexibility, phenotypic plasticity, neurogenomics, and responses to anthropogenic stressors such as thermal stress, noise, and light pollution. He applies landscape transcriptomics to wildlife management and conservation challenges, studying species including threespine stickleback, brook trout, guppies, bluebirds, and tree swallows to develop non-lethal biomarkers and assess adaptation to environmental change. As principal investigator or co-principal investigator, he has obtained grants including Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences SNIP Level II Launch Grant ($25,000, 2021-2023), SNIP Level I Launch Grant ($10,000, 2020-2022), NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity subaward ($68,000, 2016-2021), and multiple BEACON NSF Center grants. Honors include Animal Behavior Society Allee Competition Finalist (2010), Best Student Research Award from University of Maryland Behavior, Ecology, Evolution and Systematics (2010), and American Ornithological Union Best Student Talk (2009). Key publications encompass “Mate choice in the brain: Species differ in how male traits 'turn on' gene expression in female brains” (Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2024), “The role of mate competition in speciation and divergence: a systematic review” (Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2024), “Behavior-related gene regulatory networks: A new level of organization in the brain” (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020), “Male competition fitness landscapes predict both forward and reverse speciation” (Ecology Letters, 2016), and “Cognitive ability and the evolution of multiple behavioral display traits” (Behavioral Ecology, 2012).

Professional Email: keagy@psu.edu