Erich Jarvis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Erich D. Jarvis
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | May 6, 1965 Harlem, New York City, NY, US
|
| Education |
|
| Known for | Birdsong, language |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neuroscience |
| Institutions |
|
Erich Jarvis is a professor from America who works at Rockefeller University. He leads a team of scientists who study how animals learn to make sounds. This is called vocal learning. It's a very important skill for speaking and language.
Professor Jarvis and his team study animals like songbirds, parrots, and hummingbirds. They want to see how these birds learn sounds, just like humans do. They also look at how birds pass on their songs from one generation to the next. His research focuses on how the brain circuits for vocal learning develop. He also studies the tiny pathways inside cells that help animals hear and make learned sounds.
In 2002, the National Science Foundation gave Professor Jarvis the Alan T. Waterman Award. This is a very special award for young scientists. In 2005, he received the National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award. This award gave him money for five years to do new and creative biomedical research. In 2008, he became an Investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Life and Education
Erich Jarvis was born in Harlem, New York, in 1965. He was one of four children. His father, James Jarvis, was a musician and loved science. Erich often says his father's interest in science helped him become a scientist too.
When he was young, Erich went to the High School for the Performing Arts in Manhattan. There, he studied ballet. But he decided to go to college instead of becoming a dancer. He went to Hunter College and earned a degree in Biology and Mathematics in 1988. While he was there, he had six scientific papers published!
He then continued his studies at Rockefeller University. He earned his Ph.D. in Animal Behavior and Molecular Neurobehavior in 1995. He kept doing research at Rockefeller University until 1998.
Research and Discoveries
Professor Jarvis's main research looks at how birds learn to make sounds and copy others. He uses his work with songbirds to understand how human language developed. He also hopes it can help people with speech problems.
His research uses many different methods. These include studying animal behavior, brain structure, and genetics. Professor Jarvis and his team have made many important discoveries. They found that certain genes in the avian brain become active when birds learn new sounds. They also found that animals that learn to make sounds, even if they are very different, use similar brain systems.
One of their big discoveries was finding the FOXP2 gene in birds that learn to sing. This gene is also important for human speech. They also found that the brain systems for learning sounds might have come from older systems for learning movements.
A recent project by Professor Jarvis is very exciting. He is trying to help birds that don't sing, like pigeons, learn to sing. He does this by adding new genes to their brains. If this works, it could help people who have lost their speech after a stroke.
Awards and Honors
Professor Jarvis has received many awards for his important work:
- 1986: First Place Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research, NIH-MBRS Annual Symposium
- 1988: MARC-NIGMS Pre-doctoral National Research Service Award
- 1988: FORD Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
- 2000: Esther & Joseph Klingenstein Award in Neuroscience
- 2000: Whitehall Foundation Award in Neuroscience
- 2000: David and Lucille Packard Foundation Award
- 2001: Duke University Provost Bioinformatic Award
- 2002: Duke University Provost Computational Biology Award
- 2002: Hall of Fame: Alumni Association of Hunter College
- 2002: Human Frontiers in Science Program Young Investigators Award
- 2002: NSF Alan T. Waterman Award. This is the NSF's top award for young scientists.
- 2003: The 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award of the City University of New York.
- 2005: Dominion Award: Strong Men and Women of Excellence: African American Leaders.
- 2005: NIH Director's Pioneer Award
- 2006: Discover magazine listed avian brain naming at #51 in its top 100 science discoveries of 2005.
- 2006: Diverse magazine named him one of the top 10 emerging scholars of 2006.
- 2006: Popular Science Magazine named him one of the "Brilliant Ten."
- 2008: HHMI Investigator Award
- 2014: Summit Award with NSF and NINDS from the American Society of Association Executives.
- 2015: Ernest Everett Just Award, American Society for Cell Biology
See also
In Spanish: Erich Jarvis para niños
