My name is Rebecca Calisi-Rodriguez, and I am a research scientist in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior at the University of California, Davis. I went to college to become an artist, then after I graduated, I taught the 2nd grade. I later took a job at the Dallas Zoo and taught k-12 conservation biology programs, which led me back to grad school. I got my Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, studying how birds (and their brains) respond to the changing environment. I am also a “mother-in-science”. Here is a photo of me with my daughter, Carmen.