Staff Directory

Before I joined the Kelley Lab, I was an intern in the Benson Lab at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. During my time there, I investigated the effects of Cyfip1+/- mutation on synapses and developed a novel strategy to reduce human error in the process of determining synapse size through confocal images. I presented my project at the 11th Annual Neuroscience Retreat at the New York Academy of Medicine. Currently, I am a rising sophomore in the class of 2023. I plan to major in Biophysics while on a premed track. On-campus I’m involved in multiple clubs such as the Charles Drew Premedical Society for underrepresented minority pre-med students, the Caribbean Students Association, and CU Taiko, a Japanese drumming club.  In my free time, I love to watch TV shows, listen to music, and work on a few art projects. 

Ursula Kwong-Brown first joined the Kelley lab in 2009 as an undergraduate researcher with the Amgen/ SURF summer program. After discovering that various species of Xenopus produce musical intervals in their calls, she stayed on for 2 years post graduation to study their song production and perception. Ursula returned to lab in 2018 as a staff researcher. Her paper "The return to water in ancestral Xenopus was accompanied by a novel mechanism for producing and shaping vocal signals" was published be eLife in January 2019.

I am a second-year undergraduate at Columbia College double-majoring in Medical Humanities and Sustainable Development on a Premedical track. I joined the Kelley Lab to build upon my curiosity about the cross-species and evolutionary approaches between human and animal behavior. At the Kelley Lab, I am expanding upon phonotaxis research on the behaviors of female Xenopus to male amphibia calls.

On campus, I am a board member of Columbia University's Charles Drew Premedical Society and a Precision Medicine & Society Fellow at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Additionally, I had the opportunity to study sustainability and global health concepts in The Gambia during the Summer of 2024.

I joined the Kelley lab in 2020. I am an undergraduate senior studying biomedical engineering, expected to graduate in 2021, and I am interested in cellular and tissue engineering. I am currently working on the sex differences in the structure, function and regulation of vocal circuits in Xenopus projects under Irene Ballagh. I hope to pursue higher education with a masters in engineering or biology and I love playing piano and guitar.

Throughout high school, I dedicated myself to science projects and research. From cost-effective relief foods that would combat malnutrition to macronutrients in the different stages of rice seed development to efficient piezoelectric infrastructure, I loved the different ideas and analyses that came with research in the sciences. Currently at the Kelley Lab, I'm working under Irene Ballagh to analyze the sex differences in Xenopus in regards to the structure, function, and regulation of their vocal circuits. At Columbia, I'm pursuing Economics & Art History and expect to graduate in 2023. I want to apply my interests in quantitative analysis to economics as a Research Associate in asset management while continuing to visit museums and crocheting in my free time!

I joined Dr. Kelley’s lab back in January of 2018, so I’ve been part of a plethora of exciting projects! Most of my work since freshman year has focused on the genetic differences between advertisement calls in both X. laevis and X. petersi. These projects involve studying phenotypic differences within the calls, specifically their temporal and spectral features. I have taken time off during 2020 to assist the NYC effort in containing COVID-19 as a contact tracer, so I am currently on track to graduate with a degree in biology in 2022. I am planning to apply to medical school post-graduation. I’ve also been a member of the varsity lightweight rowing team since the fall of 2017. Go Lions!

My name is Ornella Pedrozo and I intern at Twentyeight Health, a Brooklyn startup dedicated to making healthcare and women's health accessible. I am currently working on my Senior Thesis at the Kelley Lab which will involve researching the hindbrain circuit that controls the tempo and rhythm of male courtship songs in Xenopus. I am a Biology major, History minor at Barnard College and expected to graduate in may 2021, after which I will pursue a medical degree in the hopes of becoming an OB/GYN. Furthermore, I am currently involved in the Latinx cultural club, Mujeres, and Ratrock Magazine, the Columbia arts initiative, and We Speak NYC, the city's ESL program. I love photo editing, volunteering at women's health initiatives, and reading.

I am a student in Columbia College class of 2025 studying Biochemistry on the pre-medical track. I had the pleasure of joining the Kelley Lab as a research assistant in the summer of 2023 and have been collaborating on the phonotaxis experiment, which is investigating the changes in vocal and behavioral responses of Xenopus females in response to male calls from various species. I am also investigating the potential differences in the inter-click variable of F2 laevis/petersii female ticking. Outside of the lab, I dedicate time to volunteering in the Emergency Department at Mt. Sinai Morningside where I get to interact with patients and assist medical staff with various tasks. I am also the Vice President of Philanthropy for Columbia’s chapter of Alpha Chi Omega and a member of the official Columbia University Dance Team!

Previous Undergraduate Researcher.

I am a Neuroscience and Behavior major on the Premedical track in Columbia College’s class of February 2029! I was extremely delighted to join the Kelley lab in the Fall of 2024 as an undergraduate research assistant where I assist with audio/video recordings, data analysis, tissue collection/tagging of animals, and general lab upkeep. 

Outside the lab, I am a photographer and a jiu jitsu martial artist!

I am a third-year neuroscience and behavior major on the pre-medical track. My interest in the Kelley Lab stems from a desire to deepen my understanding of animal behavior and the role of sex differences within it. While I have explored these complexities in the classroom, I am eager to engage with them in a hands-on research setting.

Beyond the lab, I serve on the executive board of the Caribbean Student Association and actively contribute to diaspora-based organizations, including the Black History Month Committee and Black Student Orientation Programming. In my free time, I enjoy photography and exploring the city!

Fiona Witty-Daugherty joined the Kelley Lab in the fall of 2024 as an undergraduate research assistant. She is a first-year student at Columbia College, planning to major in environmental science or environmental biology, with an expected graduation in 2028. Under the mentorship of Bliss Bagnato-Conlin, she is currently assisting with tagging frogs. Fiona is passionate about the intersection of climate change and its socioeconomic impacts and hopes to pursue a graduate degree in environmental or climate sciences. Outside the lab, she is actively involved in Columbia Ballet Collaborative and Columbia Repertory Ballet, continuing to balance performance and training with her studies. Her dedication to both the arts and sciences is part of what drew her to the Kelley Lab.

Previously working as a cosmetologist, I always found myself intrigued by the chemicals we used and how they worked. My curiosity led me to Bergen Community College, where I received my Associate’s in Natural Sciences and Mathematics. At BCC, I worked in a microbiology lab. I led a project on antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their genetic makeup, and presented this project at Metropolitan Association of College and University Biologists (MACUB) in 2019 . I’m currently a biology major at Columbia, expected to graduate in 2022. 

As the lab manager for Dr. Kelley’s lab, when I’m not working on administrative tasks, I am also working on a project where we use micro-computed tomography to examine the anatomy of Xenopus larynges. In my spare time, I love to cook - it’s like edible chemistry! In my future, I hope to develop a career in biological research. 

I’m a Neuroscience and Behavior major and Science Research Fellow in Columbia College’s class of 2022. I had the pleasure of joining the Kelley Lab as an Undergraduate Research Assistant in Spring 2019. I have been focused on developing a phonotaxis experiment which analyzes Xenopus females’ physical responses to male calls from different species. I have also helped tag frogs for more efficient identification and collect tissue samples for DNA analysis. In the future, I hope to build on all I’ve learned from animal behavior and neuroscience research by focusing on human subjects in the world of neuropsychology. On campus, I participate in the CoLab performing arts collective and the Columbia Musical Theater Society (my love of music and singing is actually what drew me to the Kelley Lab’s study of vocal communication!)

Darcy B. Kelley is the HHMI and Harold Weintraub Professor of Department Biological Sciences at Columbia University. Dr. Kelley’s research focuses on the sexual differentiation of the nervous system and the evolution and neurobiology of vocal communication. Her laboratory studies South African clawed frogs, Xenopus, species with a particularly rich vocal repertoire that is specific for each sex and social-context dependent. Females sing to males, and males sing to females and to other males. She seeks to determine how these vocal signals are produced by the nervous system and shaped across evolution and how acoustic information is deciphered and acted upon. As an HHMI Professor, Dr. Kelley started the Columbia Core undergraduate course "Frontiers of Science" and has a strong commitment to bringing science to the general public through public lectures as well as the EST/Sloan Foundation project to encourage artists to create imaginative and engaging plays and other performances that portray science and technology realistically as well as revealing scientific creativity and conflicts.

Curriculum Vitae