Laurel A. Beck

Laurel Beck photo
Ph.D. • Senior Instructor
Department of Integrative Biology

Mailing Address:
Department of Integrative Biology
Campus Box 171
P.O. Box 173364
Denver, CO 80217-3364

Physical Location:
1150 12th Street
SI 2071E
Denver, CO 80204

Office Hours: 

Fall 2023 office hours (except 10/11, during fall break, and during finals week)
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-11am in Science 2071E
meeting ID:
931 74552881

UNDERGRADUATE ADVISING HOURS:

Please use the following link to make an appointment for Dr. Beck's Undergraduate Advising Hours.  Dr. Beck can assist with class selection, planning your semesters, or career counseling.

https://calendly.com/laurel-beck/advising-appointment

Expertise Areas:
neuroscience, endocrinology

Ph.D., Neuroscience, Michigan State University (2008)
B.S., Biological Sciences, Colorado State University (2003)

I've been in the Integrative Biology department at UC Denver since January of 2011 and have taught a variety of lower and upper division courses including Gen Bio I, Human Phys, General Genetics, and Neurobiology.

Though I am no longer active in research, my work focused on the role of gonadal steroid hormones in both the maintenance and establishment of sexual and seasonal dimorphisms within the reproductive forebrain.

Beck LA, Wade J. (2009) Effects of estradiol, sex, and season on ER-alpha mRNA expression and forebrain morphology in adult green anole lizards. Neuroscience. 160:577-586.

Beck LA, Wade J. (2009) Sexually dimorphic estrogen receptor α mRNA expression in the preoptic area and ventromedial hypothalamus of green anole lizards. Horm Behav. 55:398-403.

Beck LA, Wade J. (2009) Morphology and estrogen receptor alpha mRNA expression in the developing green anole forebrain. J Exp Zool. 311A:162–71.

Beck LA, O’Bryant EL, Wade J. (2008) Sex and seasonal differences in morphology of limbic forebrain nuclei in the green anole lizard. Brain Res. 1227:68-75.

Beck LA, Wade J. (2008) Steroid receptor expression in the developing copulatory system of the green anole lizard. Gen Comp Endocrinol. 157:70-4.

Zhao L, Kim KW, Ikeda Y, Anderson KK, Beck LA, Chase S, Tobet SA, and Parker KL. (2008) CNS-specific Knockout of Steroidogenic Factor 1 Results in Increased Anxiety-like Behavior. Mol. Endocrinol. 22:1403-15.

Ottem EN, Beck LA, Jordan CL, Breedlove SM. (2007) Androgen-dependent regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and tyrosine kinase B in the sexually dimorphic spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus. Endocrinology. 148:3655-65.

BIOL 2051, General Biology I
BIOL 3225, Human Physiology
BIOL 3611, General Cell Biology
BIOL 3832, General Genetics
BIOL 3939, Biology Internship
BIOL 4165/5165, Neurobiology