Kara E. Yopak

Dr. Yopak received her B.A. in Biology (with a specialization in marine science) from Boston University in 2002 and completed her PhD at the University of Auckland in New Zealand in 2007. She later went on to postdoctoral appointments at the University of California San Diego and the University of Western Australia. She is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). She has co-authored 47 peer reviewed publications, 10 book chapters, and was Co-Editor on the third Edition of Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives. She is also an Editor in Chief of the Journal Brain, Behavior and Evolution and recently served on the Board of Directors for the American Elasmobranch Society.

Education

B.A in Biology (summa cum laude), Boston University
PhD in Sensory Neuroethology, University of Auckland

Specialization in Teaching

Dr. Yopak teaches a number of courses at UNC Wilmington, including Marine Megafauna (BIO 206), Sensory Biology (BIO 442), Neurobiology (BIO 443), as well as numerous senior seminars (BIO 495) in a range of topics

Research Interests

Dr. Kara Yopak’s research focuses on comparative neurobiology and the adaptive, developmental, and phylogenetic forces acting on evolution of the brain, particularly within the cartilaginous fishes (sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras). Appropriately named the UNCW ZoMBiE Lab (Zootomical Morphology of the Brain and its Evolution; http://yopaklab.com/), Dr. Yopak and her students explore evolution of the brain in sharks and their relatives, particularly how brain size and organization (i.e., the size and/or cellular complexity of major brain regions) varies. They use novel techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and flow cytometry, coupled with traditional methods, to describe the brain across this fascinating group of fishes and how we can use variation within and across species to make predictions about sensory specialization and behavior. Dr. Yopak and her collaborators have examined the brains of over 180 species – from white sharks to reef sharks to deep sea dogfish - and find that brain morphology correlates with an animal’s ecology, behavior, and life history traits. Most recently, Dr. Yopak has been exploring the ways the brain can change throughout life, and how parameters such as ecology, diet, rearing environment, and anthropogenic change can lead to shifts in brain size and organization, with cognitive implications.