Position Title
PhD Student
Biological Psychology
My work studies focuses on the neuroimmune system following widowhood, as well as developing methods to better characterize the post-loss period using pair-bonding species. I also have an ancillary line of research, studying how daytime activity synchrony between pair-bonded pairs impacts nighttime sleep quality.
Prior to coming to UC Davis, I described how estrous influenced mouse ultrasonic vocalizations (with Dr. J. Neunuebel at the University of Delaware), developed an invertebrate model of White-Nose Syndrome, a fungal disease decimating North American bat populations (with Dr. R. Bennett at Brown University), studied bat, bat ectoparasite, and fungi biodiversity in rural Panama (with Dr. D. Haelewaters at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute/Harvard), and worked as an aviculturist at Sutton Avian Research Center, a captive breeding facility for endangered birds.
Please feel free to reach out via email with any questions you have!
- Master of Arts, Psychology, UC Davis - 2026
- Bachelor of Science, Neuroscience, University of Delaware - 2019
- Society for Neuroscience Trainee Professional Development Award - 2026
- UC Davis Psychology Department Summer Research Fellowship – 2026
- American Society of Primatologists Small Research Grant – 2025
- UC Davis Dukes Travel Award – 2024
- UC Davis Leaders for the Future Fellowship – 2024-2025
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention – 2023
- UC Davis First-Year Psychology Department Research Fellowship – 2023
- Meckler, L. A., Sosnowski, M. J., & Bales, K. L. (2026). Measuring diurnal and lifespan variations of Brain-derived neurotrophic factor in titi monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus). General and Comparative Endocrinology, 114936.
- Bales, K.L., Finnerty-Haggerty, A., Guan, J., Meckler, L., [...] Nyabingi, O. (2026). A Holistic Review of Fatherhood in Humans and Non-human Animals: Mechanisms of Fatherhood, Effects on Fathers Themselves, and Interactions of Fathers with Others. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 20, 1779750.
- Seelke, A. M., Hung, C. L., Mederos, S. L., Rogers, S., Lam, T., Meckler, L. A., & Bales, K. L. (2026). A Demographic History of a Prairie Vole (Microtus Ochrogaster) Breeding Colony (2004-2020). Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, 1(aop), 1-10.
- Walker, M.J., Dorrestein, A., Camacho, J.J., Meckler, L.A., Silas, K.A., Hiller, T., Haelewaters, D. (2018). A tripartite survey of hyperparasitic fungi associated with ectoparasitic flies on bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in a neotropical cloud forest in Panama. Parasite, 25(19).
- Beekman, C.N., Meckler, L., Kim, E., Bennett, R.J. (2018). Galleria mellonella as an insect model for P. destructans, the cause of White-nose Syndrome in bats. PLOS ONE, 13(9).