ESP Biography



MELINDA DOOLEY, MIT Senior: Behavioral Scientist and Insect Fan



Major: Course 9: Brain & Cognitive Sci.

College/Employer: MIT

Year of Graduation: Not available.

Picture of Melinda Dooley

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Howdy! My name is Melinda (or Miss Melinda to you student types) Dooley, and I hail from Austin, Texas. Here at MIT I am officially a student of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, but more than anything, I consider myself to be a behavioral scientist.

What really interests me is why and how livings things do what they do, whether the living thing in question is something green out in my garden, a horse I'm trying to ride, or a mass of maggots found in a corpse.

My resume reflects this broad interest in critters:
- I've studied cichlid (fish) behavior as an intern at the New England Aquarium.
- I've maintained thousands of zebra danios (more fish) used in neurodevelopmental research.
- I've kept aquariums for personal enjoyment my whole life (yet more fish!)
- I'm a member of the MIT Equestrian Team (not fish--for once).
- I've done research in forensic entomology with the Texas A&M Entomology department and am have presentations in consideration for the American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in February 2009. (Also not fish, but maggots can at least be pretty slimy.)
- At MIT, my major focuses include functional neuroanatomy and language/linguistics. Think about it--learning and using language is an incredibly complex behavior.
- I presented at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Annual Scientific Conference this past February, in Denver. I LOVE forensics, and I LOVE gross things.

After I graduate this spring, I will do one of the following:
- Earn my Master's Degree in Forensic Entomology
- Earn my Master's Degree in Animal Science, focus on Equine Science
- Earn my Master's Degree in Behavioral Science
- Learn how to shoe horses
- Work in a National Park until I get around to going back to school

I'm not entirely sure how I will choose, but making-things-up-as-I-go-along has served me well so far in life...



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

S2364: Forensic Entomology! in Droplet Spring 2009 (May. 01, 2009)
How can a maggot tell you who committed a murder? Forensic entomology is using bugs to solve crimes. We'll talk about forensics in general, and bugs in specific, and we'll work a "crime scene" to see how it's done. You'll never watch CSI the same way again! Warning: this class may get a little gross.


S1918: Maggots, Murder, and Mystery: Forensic Entomology (Middle School) in Splash! 2008 (Nov. 22 - 23, 2008)
How can insects help solve crimes? This class will cover the categories of Forensic Entomology, with an emphasis on Medicolegal Entomology (aka Awesome CSI Stuff.) We will learn about fly and beetle life cycles, the processes of death, and the march of insects that will check in to your body once you check out. We will discuss determining time of death and postmortem interval, the difference between manner and cause of death, and how bugs can tell us about all of these things. Gross things will definitely be included.


S1919: Maggots, Murder, and Mystery: Forensic Entomology (High School) in Splash! 2008 (Nov. 22 - 23, 2008)
How can insects help solve crimes? This class will cover the categories of Forensic Entomology, with an emphasis on Medicolegal Entomology (aka Awesome CSI Stuff.) We will learn about fly and beetle life cycles, the processes of death, and the march of insects that will check in to your body once you check out. We will discuss determining time of death and postmortem interval, the difference between manner and cause of death, and how bugs can tell us about all of these things. Gross things will definitely be included.


S1965: Extreme Insects in Splash! 2008 (Nov. 22 - 23, 2008)
Let's talk about bugs: the tiny and the huge, the deadly and the domesticated, the drones and the masterminds. No matter how weird it may seem, there is some insect out there that does it. There are more known species of insects on Earth than any other taxonomic group. We'll briefly cover insect evolution, anatomy, and behavior, but focus will be on the bizarre.