Jay Hosler

David K Goodman '74 Professor of Biology

Phone: (814)641- 3720
Email: hosler@juniata.edu
Office: Von Liebig Science Center 1082
Office Hours: [Hours]
Personal Website: http://www.jayhosler.com

Biography

Dr. Hosler came to Juniata from Ohio State University's Rothenbuhler Honey Bee Research Laboratory where he was a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow. A 1989 graduate of DePauw University, Dr. Hosler was an Honor Scholar and earned a bachelor's degree in biological sciences. Upon graduation he received the 1989 Albert E. Renolds Senior Biologist Award. Dr. Hosler earned his Ph.D. in 1995 in biological sciences from the University of Notre Dame where he remained as an assistant professional specialist from 1995-96 to teach Evolutionary Ecology and Introductory Biology Laboratory. In 2000, Dr. Hosler joined the faculty of Juniata College where he teaches General Biology, Sensory Biology, Invertebrate Biology and Neurobiology. In 2005 he was the recipient of the Gibbel Award for Outstanding Teaching. As a postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Hosler was awarded a National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Health to study olfactory processing in honey bees. Dr. Hosler's research focuses on learning and sensory biology and has been published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, Behavioral Neuroscience, The Journal of Insect Physiology and the Journal of Comparative Psychology. He has also served as a manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Insect Physiology and Naturwissenschaften. In addition to his work with insects, his lab has also started using an eye-tracking device to examine the cognitive basis of how people read comics. Dr. Hosler's research at Juniata has been funded by money from the William von Liebig Foundation and Kresge Foundation. Outside the lab, Dr. Hosler has garnered national recognition for his work as a cartoonist and in 1998 received a Xeric Grant to publish his first graphic novel Clan Apis, a comic book on honey bee biology and natural history. His second graphic novel The Sandwalk Adventures was released in the spring of 2003. It tells the story of a conversation about evolution between Charles Darwin has with a follicle living in his left eyebrow. His books have been featured on National Public Radio's Morning Edition as well as in The New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education and Science. In 2006, Dr. Hosler received a two-year grant from the National Science Foundation to continue integrating science and comics. The grant funds the development of a college biology textbook in comic book format. He was also a writer, artist and consultant for a new line of educational comics from Harcourt Achieve's LYNX line. He wrote and drew two comics for the ten comic line. The first story, Zoo Break, addressed concepts of animal intelligence while the second story, UFO, examine life in the ocean. When Dr. Hosler isn't teaching, drawing or in the lab, he can be found rolling around the floor with his sons Max and Jack and making goo-goo eyes at his wife Lisa.