Renata Mazzei
PhD Student
I am a marine biologist, with an MSc degree in Ecology from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). I'm mainly interested in the study of animal behavior with emphasis on its mechanisms and evolutionary consequences. During my undergraduate and graduate work, I investigated the behavioral ecology of the Brazilian endemic cleaner fish Elacatinus figaro.
On my PhD, I will investigate the behavioral plasticity of other Caribbean Elacatinus species. I intend to unveil the neuroendocrine mechanisms related to behavioral variation and its evolutionary consequences for the studied species. I will be based at the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland) and my PhD research will be conducted under supervision of Professor Redouan Bshary and Dr. Marta Soares.