Rate My Professor Elizabeth Jakob

Elizabeth M. Jakob is a Professor in the Department of Biology and a behavioral ecologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She serves as Associate Dean for Student Success in the Graduate School and Interim Dean of the Graduate School. Jakob earned a B.S. from Cornell University in 1983 and a Ph.D. in Animal Behavior from the University of California, Davis in 1989. Her research program investigates jumping spider perception, focusing on the control of visual attention and how input from multiple eyes is integrated. Additional interests encompass the behavioral ecology and evolution of learned behaviors in spiders, the evolution of group living, and the role of behavior in invasive species dynamics.

Jakob and her students have published extensively on these topics. Selected peer-reviewed papers include: Winsor, A.M., L. Remage-Healey, R.R. Hoy, and E.M. Jakob. 2024. Visual attention and processing in jumping spiders. Trends in Neurosciences 47:6-8; Winsor, A.M., N. Morehouse, E.M. Jakob. 2023. Distributed vision in spiders. In E. Buschbeck and M. Bok (eds.), Distributed Vision. Springer; Rao, D. et al. 2022. Visual signals in the wing display of a tephritid fly deter jumping spider attacks. Journal of Experimental Biology 225:1-9; Bruce, M. et al. 2021. Attention and distraction in the modular visual system of the jumping spider. Journal of Experimental Biology 224; Jakob, E.M. et al. 2018. Lateral eyes direct principal eyes as jumping spiders track objects. Current Biology 28:R1092-R1093. She has contributed to textbooks such as Goodenough et al. (2009) and edited volumes like Jakob and Hodge (2005, 2009, 2012, 2018). Jakob received a Fulbright award as a Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Canterbury during the 2006-2007 academic year. Her publications have accumulated over 2,700 citations according to ResearchGate.