Michelle Rensel

Education

PhD – Biology, The University of Memphis
MS – Biology, The University of Memphis
BS – Biology, The University of Puget Sound (minor in Latin American Studies)

Bio

Dr. Michelle Rensel is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Institute for Society and Genetics. She is trained as an avian behavioral endocrinologist and interdisciplinary life sciences educator. Dr. Rensel’s research expertise spans the use of field and lab-based methods to assess the relationship between hormones and behavior, with a focus on stress hormones.

As a Teaching Professor at UCLA, Dr. Rensel coordinates faculty and graduate student teams in the Biotechnology & Society freshman Cluster and teaches upper division courses in the Human Biology and Society major. She is involved in ongoing curricular design (and redesign) efforts and is committed to creating open, accessible, and engaging learning spaces for undergraduates. Amongst other projects, she currently conducts pedagogical research to assess how classroom interventions foster critical thinking and engagement across the biology-society divide. She was awarded the UCLA Senate’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2021.

Keywords

evidence-based teaching; interdisciplinary pedagogy research; stress physiology; avian behavioral endocrinology

Selected Articles & Book Chapters

Rensel, M.A. and Vaughn, R.A. 2022. Why do some want to manage human fertility? In: D.  Souleles, J. Gersel, and M. Thaning (Eds.), People before markets: an alternative case book. Cambridge University Press.

Rensel, M.A. and Schlinger, B.A. 2020. The stressed brain: regional and stress-related corticosterone and stress-regulated gene expression in the adult zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Journal of Neuroendocrinology 00: e12852

Rensel, M.A. and Schlinger, B.A. 2016. Determinants and significance of neural corticosterone regulation in songbirds. General and Comparative Endocrinology 227: 136-42.

Rensel, M.A., Comito, D., Kosarussavadi, S.^ and Schlinger, B.A. 2014. Region-specific neural corticosterone patterns differ from plasma in a male songbird. Endocrinology 155:3572-3581.

Rensel, M.A. and Schoech, S.J. 2011. Repeatability of baseline and stress-induced corticosterone levels across early life stages in the Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens). Hormones and Behavior 59: 497-502.

Rensel, M.A.*, Wilcoxen, T.E.* and Schoech, S.J. 2010. The influence of female nest attendance and paternal provisioning on nestling stress physiology in the Florida scrub-jay. Hormones and Behavior 57: 162-168. * denotes co-first authors

Schoech, S.J. and Rensel, M.A. 2009. Environment, glucocorticoids, and the timing of reproduction. General and Comparative Endocrinology 163: 201-207.