REBECCA CALISI-RODRÍGUEZ
Scientist.
Storyteller.
Explorer
of life's beautiful exceptions.
TEACHING
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WRITING
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RESEARCHING
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SPEAKING
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TEACHING 𓂃🪶 WRITING 𓂃🪶 RESEARCHING 𓂃🪶 SPEAKING 𓂃🪶
Ultimately, everything I do, whether teaching, writing, researching, or speaking, is driven by the same hope: that if we can approach the world with greater curiosity and humility, we might also approach one another with greater kindness. I believe science has the power not only to deepen our understanding of life, but also our compassion for the people living it.
Rebecca
Sex and the Extraordinary Variation of the Animal Kingdom
For anyone who's ever been told there is only one natural way to be.
Through unforgettable animal stories, scientific discovery, and deeply human storytelling, Wildtype invites readers to explore the extraordinary diversity of life - and reconsider what "normal" has meant all along.
Coming August 2027 from Penguin Random House (Dutton)
WILDTYPE
Blueprint for Breakthrough
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MEET THE AUTHOR
Rebecca Calisi-Rodríguez is an animal behavior scientist, UC Davis professor, and National Geographic Explorer who has spent her career asking questions about sex, parenting, and social life across the animal kingdom, always with an eye toward a bigger question: what can the extraordinary diversity of nature teach us about the ways we understand one another? That question first inspired Wild Pride, her family-friendly celebration of sexual diversity in the animal world, and ultimately grew into Wildtype, her forthcoming book about the wonderfully messy biology that refuses to fit neatly into the categories humans create. Wildtype arrives in August 2027.
Meet, Rebecca M. Calisi-Rodríguez, M.S., Ph.D.
Rebecca M. Calisi-Rodríguez is a professor of animal behavior at the University of California, Davis, a National Geographic Explorer, and an author. She earned her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and somehow turned a lifelong habit of asking inappropriate questions about animals into a career. Her research explores sex, parenting, stress, and social life across the animal kingdom, while her writing lingers on the questions most of us notice, then politely move past.
After decades studying how stress harms the body, Rebecca began asking a different question: how do we recover from it? In 2022, she founded the Green Care Lab, where she combines animal behavior, stress physiology, and behavioral endocrinology to study how reconnecting with animals and nature might help us heal.
Whether she’s teaching, writing, or standing in a rainforest wondering if anyone else just saw that, Rebecca delights in sharing what animals have taught her: nature has very little interest in behaving the way humans insist it should.
At home, she lives with her wonderfully blended family, a revolving cast of rescue animals, and a succulent garden that began as a hobby and has since staged a mild horticultural uprising. There are horses, donkeys, goats, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats, muddy boots by the back door, and usually salsa music drifting through the garden while she gets distracted by whatever creature has wandered through.
as seen in
MEDIA
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BOOKS
WILDTYPE
Sex and the Extraordinary Variation of the Animal Kingdom
Nature is stranger, messier, and more inventive than the categories humans create. Wildtype explores the extraordinary biology of sex, parenting, reproduction, and social life, and what happens when nature refuses to behave as neatly as we expect it to.
Coming August 2027 from Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House
WILD PRIDE
A colorful celebration of LGBTQ+ diversity in the animal kingdom
What can animals teach us about being ourselves? Wild Pride is a playful, family-friendly journey through the remarkable diversity of sex, relationships, families, and behavior found throughout the animal world.
Wild Pride in Conversation
Rebecca talks with Vicki Gonzalez on CapRadio’s Insight about Wild Pride, animal diversity, and making science accessible.
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SELECTED ARTICLES
Rethinking Health Through Nature
After decades studying how stress affects the body, Rebecca began asking a different question: what helps us recover? Her recent work explores how our health is intertwined with the animals, ecosystems, and living world around us, from helping define the emerging field of Ecological Medicine to studying what happens when human-animal interactions are designed with the wellbeing of both species in mind.
What Happens When We Listen to the Animals? | Scientific Reports | LINK
Just Three Minutes with Miniature Horses and Donkeys Improved Teens’ Mood | UC Davis News | LINK
Rebecca discusses the science of human-animal interactions | California Tonight | LINK
A Consensus Statement for Ecological Medicine: Moving Toward Connection-Based Medicine | EcoHealth | LINK
Supporting Working Parents
Rebecca has also worked to make science more accessible to the scientists themselves, particularly parents and caregivers. Her work has helped call attention to the barriers scientist-parents face and advocate for practical changes, including making childcare a normal part of scientific conferences.
Got Milk, Must Conference | Science - LINK
The Special Challenges of Being Both a Scientist and a Mom | Scientific American -LINK
How to Tackle the Childcare-Conference Conundrum | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - LINK
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SCIENCE ON SCREEN
Rebecca uses film, interviews, and curiosity to make science and scientists more accessible, human, and occasionally less serious about themselves.
Charting an Original Path
Pigeons, parenthood, identity, and the unexpected experiences that shape the questions we ask.
Poduced by iBiology in collaboration with the National Research Mentoring Network and Wonder Collaborative.m
Watch the filmStudying Bird Brains: Not Such a Bird-Brained Idea!
What can bird brains teach us about ourselves? Rebecca explores the question with avian neuroscientists from across the field.
Filmed at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington, DC.
Watch the filmDemystifying TEDMED
Rebecca Calisi and Jonathan Eisen go behind the scenes to find out what it takes to turn science into a TEDMED talk.
Cracking Marcia McNutt
Rebecca sits down with the President of the National Academy of Sciences to meet the person behind the résumé.
Produced with support from the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences.
Watch the interview
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SELECTED PRESS
Rebecca's research and science communication have been featured in national and international media. A few highlights:
WASHINGTON POST
Just 3 minutes with a mini horse or donkey improves teens’ moods, study says.
Read the story →
ABRIDGED PBS KVIE
UC Davis study shows healing power of horses. Local ranches know the benefits well.
Read the story →
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Can Pigeons Help Us Detect Lead Pollution?
Read the story →CAPITAL PUBLIC RADIO
Pigeon 'Whisperers' Use Birds to Track Lead Pollution
Listen to the story →POPULAR SCIENCE
Most Scientific Studies Only Use Male Subjects: Here's Why That's a Terrible Idea.
Read the story →INSIDE HIGHER ED
Tackling the Childcare–Conference Conundrum
Read the story →
ACCOLADES RESEARCH & PROJECTS
Rebecca's research publications, op-eds, and other accomplishments can be found on her Curriculum Vitae
Beyond her writing, Rebecca's work spans animal behavior research, science communication, education, and nonprofit leadership.
University of California, Davis -Research and teaching focused on animal behavior, physiology, and environmental adaptation.
The Green Care Lab - Exploring connections among animals, humans, and well-being.
Skyheart Sanctuary - A nonprofit dedicated to fostering meaningful relationships between people, animals, and nature.
SPEAKING & EVENTS
Requests for interviews, speaking engagements, media inquiries, podcast requests, event invitations / participation, non-paid appearances or general questions please reach out.