Jill Amy Soha

Visiting Scientist, Nowicki Lab, Duke University Department of Biology

2002-2008: Curator and Research Associate, Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics, The Ohio State University

Contact Information

x@y.z where x=jsoha, y=biosci.ohio-state, and z=edu

Education

University of California, Davis, CA; MS in Ecology (1995), PhD in Animal Behavior (1999)
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA; BS with Honor in Biology (1993)

Research Interests

Research and Publications

June 2004-Present

I am currently studying song learning in the grasshopper sparrow.

• Soha, J.A., Lohr, B., and Gill, D.E. Song development in the grasshopper sparrow, Ammodramus savannarum. Animal Behaviour, submitted.

January 2000-June 2002 (The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH)

Used microsatellite DNA analysis to investigate whether genetic differentiation exists between song dialect populations of the migratory pugetensis subspecies of the white-crowned sparrow, to address the question of whether song learning, which can give rise to geographical dialect formation, might also lead to population divergence and potentially to speciation. This was an NSF-funded postdoctoral fellowship sponsored by Dr. Doug Nelson (see also his research page) and Dr. Patty Parker (now at UM St. Louis).

• Soha, J.A., Nelson, D.A., and Parker, P.G. 2004. Genetic analysis of song dialect populations in Puget Sound white-crowned sparrows. Behavioral Ecology 15:636-646.

• Nelson, D.A. and Soha, J.A. 2004. Perception of geographical variation in song by male Puget Sound white-crowned sparrows, Zonotrichia leucophrys pugetensis. Animal Behaviour 68(2):395-405.

• Nelson, D.A. and Soha, J.A. 2004. Male and female white-crowned sparrows respond differently to geographic variation in song. Behaviour 141:53-69.

• Nelson, D.A., Hallberg, K.I., and Soha, J.A. 2004. Cultural evolution of Puget Sound white-crowned sparrow song dialects. Ethology 110:879-908.

September 1993-December 1999 (University of California, Davis, CA)

Investigated song learning and recognition in white-crowned sparrows in the lab of Dr. Peter Marler. This included design and synthesis of tutor songs, song recording and analysis, testing vocal response of young birds to song playback and conducting field playback experiments. I also assisted with a study of environmental factors affecting song learning, including assay of plasma testosterone, and collaborated on neurophysiological experiments with Dr. Allison Doupe at UCSF. Funded by an NIH predoctoral fellowship and an NSF research training grant award.

• Soha, J.A. and Whaling, C.S. 2002. Responses of adult white-crowned sparrows to playback of song phrases: Implications for the ontogeny of song recognition. Condor 104:848-854.

• Soha, J.A. and Marler, P. 2001. Cues for early discrimination of conspecific song in the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys). Ethology 107:813-826.

• Soha, J.A. and Marler, P. 2001. Vocal syntax development in the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys). Journal of Comparative Psychology 115(2):172-180.

• Soha, J.A. and Marler, P. 2000. A species-specific cue for selective song learning in the white-crowned sparrow. Animal Behavior 60(3):297-306.

• Soha, J.A. 1999. Experience and genetic predispositions in white-crowned sparrow song development. Doctoral Dissertation, UC Davis

• Clayton, N.S., and Soha, J.A. 1999. Memory in avian food caching and song learning: a general mechanism or different processes? Advances in the Study of Behavior 26: chapter 4.

• Whaling, C.S., Soha, J.A., Nelson, D.A., Lasley, B., and Marler, P. 1998. Photoperiod and tutor access affect the process of vocal learning. Animal Behavior 56(5):1075-1082.

• Nelson, D.A., Marler, P., Soha, J.A., and Fullerton, A. 1997. The timing of song memorization differs in males and females: a new assay for avian vocal learning. Animal Behavior 54(3):587-597

• Whaling, C.S., Solis, M.M., Doupe, A.J., Soha, J.A., and Marler, P. 1997. Acoustic and neural bases for innate recognition of song. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 94(23):12694-8

• Soha, J.A. 1995. Cues for selective learning of conspecific song by young white-crowned sparrows. Master's Thesis, UC Davis

September 1991-April 1993 (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA)

Completed an undergraduate thesis project in the lab of Dr. Mark Konishi to determine the role and development of catecholamines in the neural song system of the zebra finch. This involved histology, performance of chemical and electrolytic lesions, song recording and analysis, photomicrography and darkroom use.

• Soha, J.A., Shimizu, T., and Doupe, A.J. 1996. Development of the catecholamine innervation of the male zebra finch song system. Journal of Neurobiology 29(4):473-489.

Summer 1991 (Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY)

Recorded birds in the field and analyzed the recordings as part of a project to perfect a technique of acoustically locating birds using field microphones. I also assisted with capture, measurement, labeling, and release of Northern Cardinals for behavioral studies, and analyzed recordings of whale song for a species monitoring project in the bioacoustics lab of Dr. Chris Clark.

Summers 1989, 1990 (Eunice K. Shriver Center, Waltham, MA)

Studied cerebellar development of mutant mice through cell counts, performed microinjections for production of transgenic mice, designed oligoprimers for detecting presence of transgene DNA, and purified and tested DNA. I also did laboratory organization, computer programming and data processing in the lab of Dr. Karl Herrup.

• Maricich, S.M., Soha, J.A., Trenkner, E., and Herrup, K. 1997. Failed cell migration and death of purkinje cells and deep nuclear neurons in the weaver cerebellum. Journal of Neuroscience 17(10):3675-83.