Jennifer Merritt is a postdoctoral researcher in E3B and the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute. She is interested in innate behaviors such as avoidance of danger and care for offspring because they are critical for an organism’s fitness yet show remarkable diversity across the animal kingdom. Merritt's recent work focuses on the genetic basis of adrenal hormones in Peromyscus, as well as the molecular mechanisms by which these genes participate in the control of exploratory and parental behaviors, showcasing how evolutionary comparisons can be used to discover novel biology, and how evolution of cells outside the brain can contribute to the evolution of behavior.