McConnell's research focuses on understanding how neurons in the developing cerebral cortex are produced, differentiated, and connected to form functional circuits. McConnell's research showed that progression through the cell cycle plays a key role in determining the final differentiated state of a neural progenitor cell. McConnell also confirmed the hypothesis that asymmetric cell division, as determined by the orientation of the dividing progenitor's cleavage plane, regulates cortical development. Her work elucidated the first molecular mechanism for this process, showing that asymmetrically inherited Notch proteins determine whether a new daughter cell will differentiate into a neuron or remain a neural progenitor. Her work also showed that developing cortical neurons use a variety of different migratory paths as they move from their birthplace to their final destination in the cortex. This work stood in contrast to a prevailing theory at the time, that all neuronal migration in the cortex was dependent upon radial glia. McConnell's recent work has continued to outline the molecular mechanisms underlying neural differentiation, neuronal migration and axon guidance.
Teaching
has recognized McConnell with its two highest teaching honors, the Hoagland Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching. She has taught undergraduate courses on neural development since joining Stanford's faculty in 1989. From 2010 to 2012, McConnell co-chaired a university-wide commission that evaluated undergraduate education at Stanford. The commission's recommendations encouraged students and teachers "to reconsider what they do, how they do it, and why it matters", and urged reforms to the university's general education programs. In addition, Dr. McConnell and author Andrew Todhunter were the principal force behind the creation of Stanford's Senior Reflection in Biology, a capstone course for senior undergraduates where life-science students undertake creative projects synthesizing the arts and sciences.
Conservation photography
In addition to her career in research and teaching, McConnell is an accomplished wildlife photographer. After photographing animals during a trip to the Svalbard archipelago in Norway, she developed an interest in using photography to tell stories about animal behavior. She teaches undergraduate classes on conservation photography at Stanford. Her photos have been featured in various publications including Smithsonian and National Geographic. McConnell was the first non-art Stanford faculty member to have a show in the Stanford Art Gallery. Her show was called On the Shoulders of Giants and focused on elephants, their poaching, and the crisis of the ivory trade.
