Discovering Curiosity: Art at the Zoo with Rebecca Calisi Rodríguez

Before delving into the world of endocrinology, Assistant Professor Rebecca Calisi Rodríguez, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, wasn’t following the path of a traditional scientist. She’d studied studio art and psychology at both Skidmore College and Boston College and thought she wanted to pursue the artist’s life.  

“When I graduated, it was really difficult to make it in the art world, but I would get odd jobs here and there,” Calisi Rodríguez said. “One of them happened to be at the Dallas Zoo, where they commissioned me to paint this very large mural.”

It was there, among the zoo’s fauna, that Calisi Rodríguez discovered her love for scientific research. And it all started with a mysterious animal behavior.

Read the full story on Calisi Rodríguez's path to a career in science