Sarah Westrick

Sarah Westrick is a Postdoctoral Research Associate affiliated with the Neuroscience Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Her research focuses on the interplay between maternal hormones, offspring development, and behavioral plasticity in wild vertebrates, particularly examining glucocorticoid impacts on stress physiology and adaptive traits.

• Key Research Areas:
  • Maternal stress effects on offspring neurodevelopment and physiology
  • Evolutionary implications of hormonal variation in parental care
  • Stress response mechanisms in amphibians and small mammals
  • Behavioral plasticity under environmental changes
  • Comparative endocrinology across species
  • Life history trade-offs in wild populations

Her recent publications explore topics such as corticosteroid measurement accuracy in poison frogs, maternal aggression strategies, and transgenerational effects of stress hormones in red squirrels. These works span disciplines including neuroendocrinology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary developmental biology.

• Labs & Teams:
  • Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
  • Neuroscience Program, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences