Sandra Vehrencamp

Vehrencamp spent decades of her life studying behavioral ecology, and retired fully accomplished in 2010. Her detailed work earned several awards soon after.

Since 1976 she worked with University of California at San Diego and Cornell University conducting intensive research about birds and their behavior, specifically song patterns and mating habits. She taught animal communication research methods in animal behavior to graduate students during her time at Cornell University, and currently holds a professor emerita position there. Vehrencamp is said to have been an outstanding mentor, teacher, and scientist by her graduate students. Additionally, she worked with the Laboratory of Ornithology Bioacoustics Research Program and contributed to the bird call section, specifically that of Costa Rican wrens; she still holds an emerita professor appointment there as well. Throughout her career she published over 75 papers, which have been cited more than 2,400 times, and wrote 19 book chapters. She collaborated with her husband, Jack Bradbury - a behavioral ecologist as well - consistently during her time as a scientist. They co-wrote a textbook, Principles of Animal Communication, published in 1998. It is a widely used work that combines physics, chemistry, neurobiology, cognitive science, evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, and economics to delve deeply into animals and how they signal and communicate with one another. Its importance is highlighted by the fact that it has been cited more than 1,000 times. This textbook is highly regarded in the scientific community and is revered as the standard reference of the animal behavior world.

She graduated from Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta, California, in 1965. She went on to receive her bachelor's degree in zoology with honors from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970, and her Ph.D in Animal Behavior from Cornell University in 1976. After her extensive education, she started her career in research.

Vehrencamp grew up in La Crescenta, California, and attended Crescenta Valley High School. During the time period Sandra Vehrencamp was born, women's scientific talents were substantially under-appreciated. She received her high-school diploma in 1965 and went on to pursue a higher education from there. However, before 1950, women earned less than 10% of Bachelor's in the STEM fields and less than 5% of the PhDs in these fields. She grew up with this stigma surrounding her and still managed to attend the University of California at Berkeley for her bachelors and Cornell University for her doctorate. The percentages of women receiving bachelors and PhDs were steadily rising throughout her young life, although the year she graduated from Cornell University still less than 10% of doctorates were received by women. Scientific women of the time were quite rare, and this fact highlights her dedication and passion for science, as is noted by other scientists. While in the midst of her education at Cornell University, she met her spouse-to-be, Jack Bradbury. They had their first child in 1975, just a year before Vehrencamp received her PhD and started her career. Their second child was born in 1979, when Vehrencamp was just beginning to settle into a career path. These few starting years were hectic for Vehrencamp, and it has been noted how impressive it is that she managed to keep furthering her career the way she did. Her older daughter, Kristin Nobel, is currently married and has two kids, her family living in Maine. Her younger daughter, Katrina Bradbury, studied ethnobotany but died in 2015.

Sandra Lee Vehrencamp (born February 11, 1948 in Glendale, California), is a scientist, teacher, and mentor who specializes in Behavioral ecology, with a geographical focus on avian species in Costa Rica. She served as a faculty member of Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology and Department of Neurobiology and Behavior and taught graduate students while conducting research until retiring as of October 2010. She currently resides in Ithaca, New York, with her husband, Jack Bradbury.