Current work address:
Babes-Bolyai University
Department of Psychology
Republicii 37
400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
www.geocities.com/a_s_rusu
Phone number: +40-746566311
Fax number: +40-264-590967
E-mail address:
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RESEARCH INTERESTS:
- mechanisms of individual recognition in
mammals
- dispersal propensity and aggression in wild house
mice
- communal breeding and dominance-based social organization in female
mammals
- social coping mechanisms in animals
- olfactory social memory in mammals
- animal models of anxiety and depression
- behavioural engineering in captive animals
- animal assisted therapy and animal assisted
activities
- evolutionary biology and applied behavioural ecology, in
general.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING RECORD
June 2006 - present: Postdoctoral Researcher at
The International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and
Applied Mental Health,
Babes-Bolyai
University,
Cluj-Napoca,
Romania.
January 2005 - May 2006: Researcher, Department of
Psychology,
Babes-Bolyai
University,
Cluj-Napoca,
Romania.
October 2005 - present: Training in Animal Assisted Therapy (Distance
Study Program),
College of
Education,
University of
North Texas.
September 2005: Training in Non-invasive Analysis of Hormones
(certificate awarded).
Berlin Summer School,
IZW.
November 2004 - December 2004: Research assistant,
Institute of
Anthropology,
University of Zurich,
Switzerland.
May 2004 - June 2004: Organizer of the Journal Club "Animal Emotions and
Cognition" (joint action with Prof. Dr. Marta Manser),
Institute of
Zoology,
University of
Zurich.
March 2004 - September 2004: BSE-Diagnostic assistant at Prionics AG,
Schlieren,
Switzerland.
September 2000 - April 2004: PhD student at
University of
Zurich
15th of April, 2004: PhD degree obtained at
University of
Zurich,
Institute of
Zoology,
Switzerland. Supervisors: Prof. Dr.
Barbara Koenig and PD Dr. S. Krackow.
Title of thesis: Development of competitive behavioural profiles in wild
house mice (Mus musculus
domesticus).
April 2003. Research visit at Biodiversity Group,
Charles
University,
Prague (group of Prof. Dr. Pavel Stopka).
Training in the analysis of Major Urinary Proteins in house mice.
September 1996 - December 2004: Teaching Assistant, Department of
Zoology, Faculty of Biology-Geology, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca,
Romania (courses: Zoology, Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates; seminars: Zoology
and Ethology).
October 1997 - January 2000: Studies at Faculty of Psychology and Science
of Education,
Babes-Bolyai
University,
Romania.
October 1996 - June 1997: Master degree obtained at
Babes-Bolyai
University, Faculty of Biology-Geology,
Biocenology.
Title of
thesis: A
field study of the interspecific interactions between Clethrionomys glareolus and Apodemus sylvaticus.
September 1994
- August 1995: Student
Fellowship TEMPUS-(PHARE)-JEP-0716594, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgique.
September 1991 - June 1996: Graduation in Biology at Faculty of
Biology-Geology, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (ranking as first
in the 1991-1996 Biology series).
September 1987 - June 1990:
School of
Arts (painting),
Satu-Mare,
Romania.
September 1987 - June 1991: High School Studies
at "Doamna Stanca", Satu-Mare, Romania (profiles: Biology and
Chemistry).
PARTICIPATION IN SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS AND
WORKSHOPS
13th World Congress of Psychophysiology. 2006.
Istanbul,
Turkey. Poster presentation: Latent
vs. manifest social networks: A psychophysiological and sociometric empirical
investigation. Authors: David I. Opris, Alina S. Rusu and Marius I.
Benta.
3rd National Conference of Psychology. 2006.
Cluj-Napoca,
Romania. Oral presentation: How do romanians
choose their mates? - An ethological analysis of 'companion' ads. Authors: Alina S. Rusu and Aurora Bencic
(Babes-Bolyai University, Romania).
3rd National Psychological Conference. 2006.
Cluj-Napoca,
Romania. Poster presentation: Sequence Network
Analysis: a possible hybrid methodology? Authors: Marius I. Benta (University
College Cork, Ireland) and Alina S. Rusu.
XXIX International Ethological Conference. 2005.
Budapest,
Hungary. Oral presentation.
Dispersal, competitive aggression and urinary chemosignals in wild house mouse
males. Rusu A.S.
Invited speaker at Evolutionary Ecology Seminar,
Institute of
Zoology,
University of
Bern (Group of Michael Taborsky). 2005.
Bern,
Switzerland. Oral presentation:
Dispersal propensity and competitive aggression: Parts of the same story in wild
house mouse males (Mus domesticus)?" Rusu A.S.
Brain Awareness Week. 2005.
Cluj-Napoca,
Romania. Oral presentation: The smell
of human sexuality: The neurobiology of pheromone-mediated behaviours in humans.
Rusu, A.S.
Invited speaker
at Konrad Lorenz Institut fur Vergleichende Verhaltensforschung. 2004.
Vienna,
Austria. Oral presentation:
Development of competitive behavioural profiles in wild house mice. Rusu,
A.S.
Bio04. Joint Meeting of Swiss Botanical, Mycological and Zoological
Societies,
Fribourg,
Switzerland.
2004. Poster presentation: Individual Major Urinary Protein profiles, agonistic
onset and dispersal in maturing male wild house mice. Rusu, A.S., Krackow, S.,
Koenig, B.
ASAB Summer Meeting. 2003.
Grunau,
Austria. Oral presentation:
Individual MUPs profiles affect the development of competitive behavioural
phenotypes in male house mice (Mus
domesticus). Rusu, A.S., Jedelsky, P., Krackow,
S.
ASAB Summer Meeting. 2003.
Grunau,
Austria. Poster presentation:
Pre-reproductive alliance formation in female house mice: the effects of
relatedness, familiarity and MUP (Major Urinary Proteins) profile-sharing. Rusu,
A.S., Krackow, S., Koenig, B.
Bio03.
Anual Meeting of Swiss Botanical, Mycological and Zoological Societies. 2003.
Zurich,
Switzerland. Oral
presentation: Competition
for mates and social cooperation in wild house mouse females (Mus domesticus). Rusu, A.S., Krackow,
S.
Workshop
on Work in progress - Gender Studies. April 2003. Kompetenzzentrum Gender
Studies, ETH,
Zurich,
Switzerland. Oral presentation:
Competition and cooperation in female wild house mice.
4th International Congress of the Society for Behavioral Ecology. 2002.
Montréal,
Canada. Poster presentation: Reproductive
skew depends on social and kin structure in communally nesting wild house mice.
Rusu, A.S., Krackow, S.
1st
European Conference on Behavioural Biology,
Munster: Conflict and
Resolution,
Germany. 2002. Poster presentation: Microsatellites
marking agonistic phenotypes in wild house mice. Krackow, S., Rusu, A.S.,
Koenig, B.
1st
European Conference on Behavioural Biology,
Munster: Conflict and
Resolution,
Germany. 2002. Poster presentation: Reproductive
skew mediated by familiarity-based agonistic relationships in communally nesting
wild house mice. Rusu, A.S., Krackow, S.
Zurich Interaction Seminar, ETH. 2002.
Zurich,
Switzerland. Oral presentation:
Competition and cooperation in communally breeding wild house mouse females.
Rusu, A.S.
Bio02.
Joint Meeting of Swiss Botanical, Mycological and Zoological Societies. 2002.
Bern,
Switzerland. Poster presentation: Do
males pacify females in wild house mice? Rusu, A.S., Krackow, S.
Workshop on Self-Organization and Evolution of Social Behaviour.
September 2002. Monte Verita, Ascona, Switzerland, Centro Stefano Franscini,
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
27th
International Ethological Conference of the International Council of Ethologists
and the Ethologische Gesellschaft. 2001.
Tuebingen,
Germany. Poster
presentation: Establishment of dominance and cooperation in female house mice
depending on the presence of subordinate males. Rusu, A.S., Krackow, S.
Measuring
Behaviour 2000.
Nijmegen, Netherland. Poster
presentation: Behaviour
as a discourse: A structural analysis of the feeding behaviour of laboratory rat. Rusu, A.S.,
Benta, I.M.
INDIVIDUAL GRANTS
2003-2004: Competition and cooperation in female wild house mice (Gender
Studies Kollegium, ETH, Zurich, Switzewrland, ammount: 4000
CHF).
2005-2007: Psycho-physiological indicators of the development of coping
strategies and adaptive behavioural phenotypes in wild and captive mammals (CEEX
2005, Excellence research grant for researchers reintegration, ammount: 106040
RON).
PUBLICATION RECORD
Published
Rusu, A.S.,
Krackow, S., Jedelsky, P.L., Stopka, P., Koenig, B. (submitted). MUP patterns of
excretion differentiate the agonistic profiles in wild house mouse males (Mus domesticus).
Rusu,
A.S., Krackow, S. (2005). Agonistic onset reflects dispersal propensity and
emotional changes in maturing male wild house mice (Mus domesticus). Journal of Comparative
Psychology, 119: 58-66.
Rusu, A.S., Krackow, S. (2004). Kin-preferential cooperation,
dominance-dependent reproductive skew, and competition for mates in communally
nesting female house mice. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 56:
298-305.
Rusu, A.S., Koenig, B., Krackow, S. (2004). Pre-reproductive alliance
formation in female wild house mice (Mus
domesticus): the effects of familiarity and age-disparity. Acta Ethologica,
6: 53-58.
Rusu, A.S. (2004). From Biochemistry to Behaviour: An Integrative
Approach of Major Urinary Protein (MUP) Roles in the Sociobiology of House Mice.
Cognition, Brain and Behavior,
Cluj-Napoca,
Romania, VII, 1:
21-36.
Rusu, A.S. (1999). Neurobiological Models of Accessory Olfactory Memory.
Cognition, Brain and Behavior,
Cluj-Napoca,
Romania. Special Issue: Neuroscience,
III, 4: 381-389
Rusu, A.S., Benta, I.M. (1999). Sequential Analysis of Feeding Behaviour
of the Laboratory Rat. Annals of
Western
University
Timisoara,
Romania. 2:
81-94.
Rusu, A.S.
(1998). Study of interspecific relationships in field between Clethrionomys glareolus (Rodentia,
Cricetidae) and Apodemus sylvaticus (Rodentia, Muridae). Acta Oecologica,
Sibiu, 1-2: 5-14.
Books
Rusu A.S. (editor). Studying communication in animals. ASCR,
Cluj-Napoca, ISBN
973-7973-23-2, 152 pages.
Rusu A.S. Development of competitive behavioural profiles in wild house
mice (Mus domesticus). PhD Thesis.
ASCR,
Cluj-Napoca, ISBN 973-7973-13-5, 100
pages.
LANGUAGE RECORD
Conversation Reading Writing
Romanian Fluent Fluent Fluent
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
French Medium Fluent Medium
German Poor Medium Poor
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