Speciation is a fundamental evolutionary process by which new species form. Behavioral isolation often plays a key role in speciation and occurs when mismatches in mating traits (signals and/or discrimination of those signals) prevent closely related species from interbreeding. The relative importance of changes in signals versus changes in signal discrimination to behavioral isolation remains unknown, as studying cognitive traits such as discrimination has traditionally posed a major challenge in natural populations. It is now feasible to develop genomic resources and functional genetic tools in non-model systems, providing an exciting opportunity to investigate the neural and genetic basis of behavioral isolation. This project will integrate cutting-edge transcriptomic and genomic approaches to connect patterns of behavioral, neural, and genomic variation within species to large-scale processes of species diversification. This innovative work will move the field forward by identifying how selection acts on cognitive traits underlying behavioral isolation, providing novel insight into the mechanisms that generate and maintain biodiversity. The broader impacts of this project focus on developing initiatives aimed at supporting underrepresented groups in biology. First, training opportunities and curriculum resources centered on inquiry-based learning will be provided to secondary education teachers from minority serving schools. Second, curriculum on coding for biology will b