Jennifer Kotler graduated with a Ph.D. from Harvard's Organismic and Evolutionary Biology department in 2018. She went on to work as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof Steven Pinker, and serves as a lecturer in both Harvard’s Psychology Department and the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. Through her interdisciplinary investigations of genomic imprinting and genetic disorders with Prof David Haig, Jennifer's dissertation research contributed to the growing field of evolutionary medicine. Her integrative approach has fostered collaborations with a broad range of talented researchers both locally and internationally, including experimental psychologists, molecular biologists, physicians and business faculty.
Jennifer began her research career in Ontario, Canada, where she collaborated with the Family & Child Services of Waterloo to answer applied questions about child welfare using principles of genetic relatedness and kinship psychology. From there she went on to work in the Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care research unit at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center, where her work focused on quality of death and caregiver bereavement. Jennifer recently returned to end-of-life research, serving as a Research Consultant for the Death & Dying research team at the University Health Network in Toronto.
Throughout her research career Jennifer continued to contribute to scientific communication, both between scientists and medical professionals as well as translating science for the public. She served as a contributer to the reproductive health startup Clue, has published numerous articles for psychological encyclopaedia, participated in educational podcasts, and served as a public educator for the Harvard Museum of Natural History.
Outside of the lab, Jennifer is an avid puzzler. She and her dog Juno enjoy the outdoors, and can often be found at one of Boston's local hiking trails. Juno is also a fan of the Harvard Natural History Museum, where she loves to greet visitors and help Jennifer with public education and science outreach!
