EDUCATION
2011 Ph. D., Auburn University
2008 M. S., Towson University
1998 B. S., University of Maryland-College Park
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Balenger S.L., Bonneaud C., Sefick S., Zhang J., Edwards S.V., and Hill G.E. (2015) Plumage color and infection-induced gene expression in a wild bird. Behavioral Ecology (doi: 10.1093/beheco/arv055).
Balenger S.L. (2015) Stridulated soft song in singing insects. Animal Behaviour (special issue – Whispered Communication). (doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.03.024)
Balenger S.L., and Zuk M. (2015) Roaming Romeos: male crickets evolving in silence exhibit increased locomotor behaviors. Animal Behaviour 101: 213-219.
Zuk M. and Balenger S.L. (2014) Behavioral ecology and genomics: new directions, or just a more detailed map? Behavioral Ecology, 1277-1282 (invited perspective). PDF
Balenger S.L. and Zuk M. (2014) Testing the Hamilton-Zuk hypothesis: past, present, and future. Integrative and Comparative Biology 54: 601-613 (doi:10.1093/icb/icu059). PDF
Hill G.E., Fu X., Balenger S.L., McGraw K.J., Girardeau M., and Hood W.R. (2013) Changes in concentrations of circulating heat shock proteins in wild songbirds in response to distinct environmental stressors. Journal of Field Ornithology 84: 416-424. PDF
Bonneaud C., Balenger S.L., Hill G.E., and Russell A.F. (2012) Experimental evidence for distinct costs of pathogenesis and immunity against a natural pathogen in a wild bird. Molecular Ecology. (doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05736.x). PDF
Bonneaud C., Balenger S.L., Zhang J., Edwards S.V., and Hill G.E. (2012) Innate immunity and the evolution of resistance to an emerging infectious disease in a wild bird. Molecular Ecology 21: 2628-2639 (doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05551.x). PDF
Delaney N., Balenger S.L., Bonneaud C., Marx C., Hill, G.E., Ferguson-Noel N., Tsai P., Roderigo A., and Edwards S.V. (2012) Ultrafast evolution and loss of CRISPRs following host shift in a novel wildlife pathogen, Mycoplasma gallisepticum. PLoS Genetics 8: e1002511 (doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1002511). PDF
Balenger S.L., McClure C. J. M. and Hill G.E. (2012) Primer design and transcript quantification of a highly multiplexed RT-PCR for a non-model avian species, Carpodacus mexicanus. Molecular Ecology Resources 12: 116-122 (doi: 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.03058.x). PDF
Bonneaud C., Balenger S.L., Russell A.F., Zhang J., Hill G.E., and Edwards S.V. (2011) Rapid evolution of disease resistance is accompanied by functional changes in gene expression in a wild bird. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108: 7866-7871 (doi: 10.1073/pnas.1018580108). PDF
Balenger S.L., Johnson L.S., and Masters B.S. (2009) Sexual selection in a socially monogamous bird: male color predicts reproductive success in the mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 63:403-411 (doi: 10.1007/s00265-008-0674-5). PDF
Balenger S.L., Johnson L.S., Mays H., and Masters B.S. (2009) Extra-pair paternity in the strongly sexually dichromatic Mountain Bluebird and its effect on the opportunity for sexual selection. Journal of Avian Biology 40:173-180 (doi: 10.1111/j.1600-048X.2009.04521.x). PDF
Balenger S.L., Johnson L.S., Brubaker J., and Ostlind E. (2007) Parental effort in relation to structural plumage coloration in the mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides). Ethology 113: 838-846 (doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2007.01386.x). PDF
Johnson L.S., Ostlind E., Brubaker J., and Balenger S.L. (2006) Effect of altitude on parental expenditure in Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides): Are higher altitude males better fathers? Journal of Ornithology 148:9-16. PDF
Johnson L.S., Ostlind E., Brubaker J., Balenger S.L., Johnson B.G., and Golden H. (2006) Changes in egg size and clutch size with elevation in a Wyoming population of mountain bluebirds. The Condor 108: 591-600. PDF
Shawkey M.D., Balenger S. L., Hill G.E., Johnson L.S., Keyser A.J., and Siefferman L. (2006) Mechanisms of evolutionary change in structural plumage coloration among bluebirds (Sialia spp.). Journal of the Royal Society – Interface 3: 527-532. PDF
Wagner K.F., Hellberg A.K., Balenger S.L., Depping R., Dodd-O J., Johns R.A., and Li D. (2004) Hypoxia induced mitogenic factor has antiapoptotic action and is upregulated in the developing lung: coexpression with hypoxia-inducible factor-2 alpha. American Journal of Respiratory Cellular Molecular Biology 31:276-282. PDF
Rohr J., Sarkar N., Balenger S.L., Jeong B., and Cerutti H. (2004) Tandem inverted repeat system for selection of effective transgenic RNAi strains in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The Plant Journal 40:611-621. PDF
A LITTLE MEDIA COVERAGE
· http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46343744/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.TzV2K
· http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/nesc-dbp020212.php
· http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120209172803.htm