Dr. Jean Boal |
Biography
I am interested in all kinds of behavior, but I am particularly intrigued by the evolution of cognitive behavior, from a functional and ecological perspective. My research has focused learning and sensory perception in cephalopods (octopuses, cuttlefishes, and squids). Over the course of my career, I have had the privilege of working with a wide range of scientists, from many sub-disciplines, many countries, and in many stages of their careers. I enjoy working with students, especially those also intrigued by animal behavior.
I did not arrive at this career path in a straight-forward way. As a young person, I just knew I liked science, and especially biology. In college, I had the opportunity to do an independent research project, and I investigated the impact of haul out (climbing-out) behavior of harbor seals on rocky intertidal communities. With the help of my mentor, I was able to publish that research, which was very exciting to me. After college, I had an internship studying the home range sizes of three species of kangaroos, using radio telemetry. I enjoyed the field work and loved learning about the Australian outback. But I didn't know what to do next.
I floundered around for quite a while in my twenties, trying to figure out what to do with my life. One year I was working as a computer programmer and had been reading about artificial intelligence when I happened upon Donald Griffin's books on animal awareness and animal thinking. I was fascinated. I thought this was a topic that could sustain my interest and I thought it would be really interesting to try to figure out good experimental designs to help assess what animals know. So that was the beginning of my career studying animal cognition. The field of cognitive ethology has really blossomed in the past 20 years, and it is exciting to see all that we are learning now.
I want to finish with a word about marine biology. I didn't set out to be a marine biologist, but I always loved the ocean and my chosen species, cephalopods, are exclusively marine. I have been happy to develop my knowledge and understanding of the ocean, and I love teaching marine biology. What could be a better place to work than by the shore?
I did not arrive at this career path in a straight-forward way. As a young person, I just knew I liked science, and especially biology. In college, I had the opportunity to do an independent research project, and I investigated the impact of haul out (climbing-out) behavior of harbor seals on rocky intertidal communities. With the help of my mentor, I was able to publish that research, which was very exciting to me. After college, I had an internship studying the home range sizes of three species of kangaroos, using radio telemetry. I enjoyed the field work and loved learning about the Australian outback. But I didn't know what to do next.
I floundered around for quite a while in my twenties, trying to figure out what to do with my life. One year I was working as a computer programmer and had been reading about artificial intelligence when I happened upon Donald Griffin's books on animal awareness and animal thinking. I was fascinated. I thought this was a topic that could sustain my interest and I thought it would be really interesting to try to figure out good experimental designs to help assess what animals know. So that was the beginning of my career studying animal cognition. The field of cognitive ethology has really blossomed in the past 20 years, and it is exciting to see all that we are learning now.
I want to finish with a word about marine biology. I didn't set out to be a marine biologist, but I always loved the ocean and my chosen species, cephalopods, are exclusively marine. I have been happy to develop my knowledge and understanding of the ocean, and I love teaching marine biology. What could be a better place to work than by the shore?
Recent Publications and Honors
Hough AR, Case J, Boal JG. 2016. Learned control of body patterning in cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (Cephalopoda). Journal of Molluscan Studies 82(3): 427-431. doi: 10.1093/mollus/eyw006.
Jozet-Alves C, Darmaillacq A-S, Boal JG. 2014. Navigation in cephalopods. In: Cephalopod Cognition. A-S Darmaillacq, L Dickel, and J Mather, eds. Cambridge University Press, pp. 150-166.
Boal JG. 2011. Behavioral research methods for working with octopuses and cuttlefishes. Vie et Milieu 61: 203-210.
Frank M, Waldrop R.H., Dumoulin M, Aton SJ, Boal JG. 2012. A Preliminary Analysis of Sleep-Like States in the Cuttlefish Sepia officinalis. PLoS ONE 7(6): e38125. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038125.
Cummins SF, Boal JG, Buresch KC, Kuanpradit C, Sobhon P, Holm JB, Degnan BM, Nagle GT, Hanlon RT. 2011. Extreme aggression in male squid induced by a ß-microseminoprotein-like pheromone. Current Biology 21(4): 322-327. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.01.038.
- This paper was the result of lots of student projects aimed at understanding of cuttlefish could control their body patterns or if the patterning was entirely innate and reflexive.
Jozet-Alves C, Darmaillacq A-S, Boal JG. 2014. Navigation in cephalopods. In: Cephalopod Cognition. A-S Darmaillacq, L Dickel, and J Mather, eds. Cambridge University Press, pp. 150-166.
- This paper was a review of research done on spatial orientation behavior in cephalopods. My two co-authors are former French students, now professors in their own right.
Boal JG. 2011. Behavioral research methods for working with octopuses and cuttlefishes. Vie et Milieu 61: 203-210.
- This paper reviews and synthesizes research methods I and my students had developed over the many years of working with octopuses and cuttlefishes.
Frank M, Waldrop R.H., Dumoulin M, Aton SJ, Boal JG. 2012. A Preliminary Analysis of Sleep-Like States in the Cuttlefish Sepia officinalis. PLoS ONE 7(6): e38125. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038125.
- This was the first of several papers (still coming) documenting something like sleep, and potentially something like REM sleep, in cuttlefish.
Cummins SF, Boal JG, Buresch KC, Kuanpradit C, Sobhon P, Holm JB, Degnan BM, Nagle GT, Hanlon RT. 2011. Extreme aggression in male squid induced by a ß-microseminoprotein-like pheromone. Current Biology 21(4): 322-327. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.01.038.
- This paper is the culmination of lots of studies. Here, we finally fully document and characterize a pheromone important in reproductive behavior of squid. It turns out that a molecule embedded in squid eggs causes male squid to abruptly shift from peaceful schooling to aggressively combatting each other for access to female mates. Interestingly enough, the pheromone is a protein that is well known for its role in reproductive behavior in organisms as diverse as humans and rotifers.