H. Jane Brockmann is an emeritus professor at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

known for her research on animal behavior, especially in the mating and nesting behavior of

horseshoe crab Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to arachn ...

s. In 2008, she was elected a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

Education and career

Atlantic_horseshoe_crab_(Limulus_polyphemus)

Brockmann has a B.S. from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

(1967) and an M.S. from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

(1972). She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1976, and then took a position at the

as an assistant professor. In 1989, Brockmann was promoted to professor. In 2011, she became the first faculty Emerita of the biology department at the University of Florida, and there was a symposium given in her honor.

Research

Brockmann's research on animal behavior spans different groups in the animal kingdom. She has examined

kleptoparasitism Kleptoparasitism (etymologically, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, which can mean when foo ...

in birds, the mating and nesting tactics of wasps including investigations into the mud-daubing wasp ''

Trypoxylon politum The organ pipe mud dauber (''Trypoxylon politum'') is a predatory wasp in the family Crabronidae. They are fairly large wasps, ranging from 3.9–5.1 cm, and have been recorded to fly from May to September. Female and male are similar in co ...

'' and a digger wasp (''

Sphex ichneumoneus ''Sphex ichneumoneus'', known commonly as the great golden digger wasp or great golden sand digger is a wasp in the family Sphecidae. It is identified by the golden pubescence on its head and thorax, its reddish orange legs, and partly reddish or ...

.'' In beetles, she has examined sexual selection in ''

Diaprepes abbreviatus ''Diaprepes abbreviatus'', also known as the diaprepes root weevil, citrus root weevil and sugarcane rootstock borer weevil, is a species of weevil that is native to the Caribbean, where in Spanish it is colloquially called chichí. It has becom ...

'' which is important in Florida because it causes problems with citrus crops. Her research on behavior and population biology of horseshoe crabs is conducted at

Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge The Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located near Cedar Key, at the western end of SR 24 Route 24, or Highway 24, can refer to: International * European route E24 Australia * ...

, and includes addressing the question of why females select their nesting sites and the nesting tactics of males. She has also used genetics to define genetically distinct groups of horseshoe crabs in Florida and along the east coast of the United States.

Selected publications

* * *

Awards and honors

* Penny Bernstein Distinguished Teaching Award, inaugural recipient, Animal Behavior Society (1995) * Elected fellow,

Animal Behavior Society The Animal Behavior Society is an international non-profit scientific society that encourages and promotes the professional study of animal behavior. It has open membership and also provides a certification and directory for animal behaviorists. T ...

(1995) * Distinguished Service Award, Animal Behavior Society (2000) * Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2008) * Myrle E. and Verle D. Nietzel Visiting Distinguished Faculty Program Award, University of Kentucky (2011) * Distinguished Animal Behaviorist Award, Animal Behavior Society (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brockmann, H. Jane Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science University of Wisconsin alumni Tufts University alumni University of Florida faculty Women marine biologists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people