In my work within and without higher education to promote equity and inclusion I have repeatedly uncovered incivility among faculty that has been ignored creating somewhat hostile work environments. I have begun working in earnest to document these practices and pursue ways to restore harmony and build community. I have worked with Lehigh’s faculty senate to create a faculty code of ethics and more equitable positions for non-tenured faculty. And I am a member of the advisory board for the Academic Parity Movement a non-profit organization currently working to define bullying among the faculty in Higher Education. 

I have been a professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA for over 25 years. My career began in circadian rhythms where I worked to identify multiple circadian and food entertainable oscillators. I then moved to neuroendocrinology and behavior. My work showed that sex steroids induce neural plasticity in limbic areas but only in the male. And that these changes required BDNF. At present, my lab is on hiatus as I pursue my other interests which include: conflict management and negotiation; creating and reviewing open-access educational resources, and restorative practices.

Professional Affiliations:

Societies:

• Society of Senior Ford Fellows
• International Ombuds Association
• International Association on Workplace Bullying and Harrassment

Board Memberships:

• PennFutures
• Lehigh Valley Justice Institute
• MERLOT

Advisory Boards:

• Academic Parity
• COBRE (Delaware State)
• Allentown Environmental Council
• ASCEND (Morgan State)

Ashkarran, A. A., Swann, J., Hollis, L., & Mahmoudi, M. (2021). The File Drawer Problem in Nanomedicine. Trends in Biotechnology, 39(5), 425–427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.01.009

Sharifi, S., Caracciolo, G., Pozzi, D., Digiacomo, L., Swann, J., Daldrup-Link, H. E., & Mahmoudi, M. (2021). The role of sex as a biological variable in the efficacy and toxicity of therapeutic nanomedicine. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 174, 337–347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2021.04.028

Swann, Jennifer, Gael Boucka, and Sarah Stanlick. 2020. "Border Crossing for Universities: Creating a Culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion." The International Journal of Community Diversity 20 (1): 1-9. doi:10.18848/2327-0004/CGP/v20i01/1-9.

Baldwin-SoRelle, Carrie and Swann, Jennifer M. “Scholarly Bridges: SciComm Skill-Building with Student-Created Open Educational Resources,” in Open Pedagogy Approaches: Faculty, Library, and Student Collaborations, ed. Alexis Clifton & Kimberly Hoffman, Milne Library Publishing at SUNY Geneseo, 2020.

Brague, J. C., Lenchur, C. N., Hayden, J. M., Davidson, R. H., Corrigan, K., Santini, G. T., & Swann, J. M. (2018). BDNF infusion into the MPN mag is sufficient to restore copulatory behavior in the castrated Syrian hamster. Hormones and Behavior, 102, 69–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.05.006

Swann JM, Wang J, Govek EK. The MPN mag: introducing a critical area mediating pheromonal and hormonal regulation of male sexual behavior. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Dec;1007:199-210. doi: 10.1196/annals.1286.020. PMID: 14993054.

Fiber, J.M., Adames, P. and Swann, J. (1993) Pheromones induce c-fos in limbic areas regulating male hamster mating behavior. NeuroReport 4,871-874

Swann, J.M. and Turek, F.W. (1985) Multiple oscillators regulate the timing of behavioral and endocrine rhythms in female golden hamsters. Science 228, 898-900.

Stephan, F.K., Swann, J.M. and Sisk, C.L. (1979) Anticipation of 24-hour feeding schedules in rats with lesions of the suprachiasmatic nuclei. Behav. Neurol. Biol. 25: 346-363.

Open Access Textbook Chapters

I have been working with students in my behavioral Neuroanatomy lab to create textbook chapters in behavioral neuroscience. To date, we have published one “Circadian Rhythms”. The class is working on several other topics including: Parenting/Attachment, Sex Behavior, Aggression, Sleep and Mind/Body

Mountaintop Projects

I am currently working with students on 2 Mountaintop projects. The first aims to create a biodigester for dog waste (the PAWS project). The second is aimed to provide support for alternatives to 911 in the Lehigh Valley (Lehigh Valley Social Justice Initiative).

Humanities Lab

I have worked with the Mellon Grant’s Humanities lab to create 3 courses on the pandemic and an illustrated project housed in the Zoellner Art Center Portraits of the Brain: Visualizing Behavior.

• Morgan Murray
• Alyssa Klinger
• Katie Goettle
• Kerem Ayhan
• Caitlin Haas
• Gabby Greisberg
• Steph Alkhatib
• Shelby Hinchman