Born in Memphis, TN, I grew up as the middle child of five, all having since received bachelor degrees in physics and Ph.D.s as well. During a biology undergraduate class, I became enamored with the notion of small molecules exerting a brain, and even body-wide, influence and dramatically altering behavior. From then on I have been passionate about the intersection between biology and physics and found neuroscience to be a rich field with complex dynamics and large unresolved questions.
Born in Memphis, TN, I grew up as the middle child of five, all having since received bachelor degrees in physics and Ph.D.s as well. During a biology undergraduate class, I became enamored with the notion of small molecules exerting a brain, and even body-wide, influence and dramatically altering behavior. From then on I have been passionate about the intersection between biology and physics and found neuroscience to be a rich field with complex dynamics and large unresolved questions.
After I received my BA and MA in physics, I fully immersed myself in neuroscience research by joining a neuroscience lab. I received my PhD in Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University in Joe Fetcho's lab, where I studied how transcription factor and neurotransmitter stripes provide a simple toolkit used by diverse neural circuits in the zebrafish hindbrain. As a postdoctoral fellow I shifted back to working with a physics-trained neuroscientist, David Tank, to investigate the role of mouse neural circuits in navigation. I defined how grid cells respond to navigation of virtual environments and discovered a novel cell type that encodes distance to cues.
After I received my BA and MA in physics, I fully immersed myself in neuroscience research by joining a neuroscience lab. I received my PhD in Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University in Joe Fetcho's lab, where I studied how transcription factor and neurotransmitter stripes provide a simple toolkit used by diverse neural circuits in the zebrafish hindbrain. As a postdoctoral fellow I shifted back to working with a physics-trained neuroscientist, David Tank, to investigate the role of mouse neural circuits in navigation. I defined how grid cells respond to navigation of virtual environments and discovered a novel cell type that encodes distance to cues.
Coming back to zebrafish at Caltech after studying complex behavior in mice, I have been enamored with the idea of fully recording both brain activity and behavior to obtain large datasets of both to further understand how each shapes the other. At Occidental College, I have been exploring new questions with microscopy and computation using flies, worms, and zebrafish. When I'm not in front of a microscope, in office hours, or grading exams, I spend as much time outside as I can. Come find me in Joshua Tree and I'll give you a belay on a rock climb.
Coming back to zebrafish at Caltech after studying complex behavior in mice, I have been enamored with the idea of fully recording both brain activity and behavior to obtain large datasets of both to further understand how each shapes the other. At Occidental College, I have been exploring new questions with microscopy and computation using flies, worms, and zebrafish. When I'm not in front of a microscope, in office hours, or grading exams, I spend as much time outside as I can. Come find me in Joshua Tree and I'll give you a belay on a rock climb.