Courtney Fitzpatrick

Courtney Fitzpatrick is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on understanding how social environments shape the evolution of reproductive traits, particularly in female animals in polygynous mating systems. She employs field-based empirical methods and mathematical modeling to explore these questions, with a current emphasis on female ornaments in primates such as exaggerated estrous swellings in baboons.

Education includes a B.A. in Visual Art from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (exact year not specified) and a Ph.D. in Biology from Duke University (2012). Postdoctoral work included positions at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (2013-2015), University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Duke University (2016), and Indiana University (2017-2019 as a Research Associate).

Her research interests center on the interplay between ecological factors and evolutionary outcomes, particularly mechanisms driving the persistence of female sexual signals in polygynous systems. She investigates theoretical frameworks through mathematical models to clarify hypotheses about male mate choice dynamics and female trait evolution. Recent work includes studies on how intersexual interactions influence survival and ornament evolution, as well as methodological advancements in noninvasive primate monitoring.

Publications highlight themes in sexual selection theory, evolutionary genetics of parental care, and interdisciplinary approaches to evolutionary problems. Her lab focuses on integrating empirical fieldwork with computational modeling to address fundamental questions in evolutionary biology.