College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

Education

Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 2025

B.A. in Anthropology, Beloit College, 2019

Background

My interest in behavioral ecology and sexual selection began during my undergraduate studies in Anthropology at Beloit College, where I became fascinated by how animals communicate and make reproductive decisions. During my Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, I focused on the Pacific field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus, exploring the role of post-copulatory song as a mate-guarding strategy. This work revealed how males use flexible behavioral tactics to influence female behavior and reproductive success, as well as the potential trade-offs between signaling and sperm quality. I continue to study sexual signaling and mate choice as a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Dr. Tyler Buchinger and Dr. Weiming Li, investigating female pheromone preferences in sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and how environmental cues, both olfactory and visual, guide mate searching and choice, using zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model.

Publications 

Hagg, L., & Zuk, M. (2025). Lack of perceived sperm competition risk increases post-copulatory song in Pacific field crickets. Behavioral Ecology, 36(4), araf081.

Hagg, L., LaMere, C. J., & Zuk, M. (2024). Postcopulatory song as a mate-guarding tactic in the Pacific field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus. Animal Behaviour, 207, 201-207.

Hund, A. K., Mitchell, T. S., Ramίrez, M. I., Zambre, A., Hagg, L., Stene, A., ... & Snell‐Rood, E. C. (2024). The potential of roadside verges as insect habitat: Road salt has few effects on monarch butterfly performance and migration. Conservation Science and Practice, 6(10), e13229.