I have broad interests in behavioral biology and evolutionary biology, and my students study both the evolutionary functions and proximate mechanisms underlying behavior. I mainly work with house mice and I collaborate with students and other scientists who work on fish, birds, and other taxa, including humans. Finally, I am interested in conservation biology, and better understanding why humans create environmental and conservation problems.

• MHC and other genetic influences on individual odors in mice and humans
• Sexual selection and kin recognition in wild house mice
• Telomeres and life-history tradeoffs in wild house mice
• Behavioral ecology of wild zebrafish

• Dr. Petteri Ilmonen
• Dr. Kerstin Musolf
• Dr. Sarah Zala
• Mag. Sophie Hutter
• Mag. Michaela Hölzl
• Mag. Michaela Thoss
• M.Sc Florian Wetzel
  

Education

• Habilitation, University of Vienna, Austria, 2004
• Ph.D., Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1997.
• M.S., Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 1992.
• B.S., Biology, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, Oklahoma, 1988.

Professional Career

• Adjunct Professor, Institute of Zoology, University of Vienna, Austria, 2004-present
• Director of Konrad Lorenz Institute for Ethology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria, 2002-present
• Visiting Professor, School of Biology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, 2003-2005
• Assistant Research Professor, Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1999-2002
• Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1998-1999

• Penn, D.J. & Smith, K.R. 2007. "Differential costs of reproduction between the sexes". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 104: 2, 553-558. http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0609301103v1
• Penn, D.J., Oberzaucher, E., Grammer, K., Fischer, G., Soini, HA., Wiesler, D., Novotny, M.V., Dixon, SJ., Xu, Y. & Brereton, R.G. 2007. "Individual and gender fingerprints in human body odour". J. R. Soc. Interface 4: 331-340. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2006.0182
• Penn, D.J. 2003. The evolutionary roots of our environmental problems: toward a Darwinian ecology. Quarterly Review of Biology, 78(3): 275-301.
• Penn, D.J.  2002. The scent of genetic compatibility: Sexual selection and MHC genes. Ethology, 108: 1-21.
• Penn, D.J., et al. 2002. MHC heterozygosity confers a selective advantage against multiple-strain infections. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 99(17): 11260-11264.
• Penn, D. & Potts, W.K. 1999. The evolution of mating preferences and major histocompatibility complex genes. American Naturalist 153(2): 145-164.