John R. Cooley

John R. Cooley is an Associate Professor in Residence in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut. He holds a PhD and MSc in Biology from the University of Michigan and a BSc in Biology from Yale University, complemented by an MBA from the University of Connecticut. His research focuses on sexual selection, mating systems, and speciation in periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.), with a particular emphasis on phylogeography, life cycle evolution, and behavioral ecology. Cooley has made significant contributions to understanding asymmetrical reproductive character displacement, geographic body size variation, and interactions with fungal pathogens like Massospora cicadina.

His work often integrates molecular genetics, bioacoustics, and GIS-based mapping to analyze cicada brood distributions, hybridization dynamics, and responses to climate change. Cooley is also known for developing crowdsourced data collection methods to enhance cicada emergence mapping and for studying psychoactive alkaloid production by cicada pathogens. He maintains a strong collaborative network with researchers such as Chris Simon and David C. Marshall.