Postdoctoral Researcher , University of California, Riverside, USA

PhD Neuroscience, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg - 2023
MS.c. Integrative Neuroscience, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg - 2018 
B.S. Psychology, Michigan Technological University, MI USA - 2014 

The 3 most exciting frontiers we have now are space, the deep ocean, and the brain. 

I'm interested in the mesoscopic scale of the auditory cortex: populations of excitatory neurons and inhibitory interneurons working collectively, a nested complex adaptive system, to process and respond to the sound of the world around us. The emergence of synchronized behavior out of our own chaotic brains is what motivates me in science. I'm especially interested in 1) bat auditory sensory processing questions because bats have an extraordinarily advance auditory cortex due to echolocation and rich social communication and 2) comparative systems physiology—to consider evolution and ecology in specialized use of shared mammalian cortical architecture. Like the nodes of a neuronal network, I would like to be a valuable node in society's collective understanding of these mechanisms.

I advocate, in my own circles of influence, for discussion of mental health in academia—due especially to having Borderline Personality Disorder and having benefited from counseling, therapy, and support during diagnosis and up through present-day. I stand against fascism. 

When I'm not doing research, I play dungeons and dragons and video games. I weight lift for fun and I'm a hobby artist, trying to spread my love of the brain through painting and digitizing neurons.

Rolling Curriculum Vitae

Download Curriculum Vitae

PhD Dissertation

The adaptive primary auditory cortex microcircuitry across brain states, scales, and species

Prof. rer. nat. habil. Max F.K. Happel, LIN, Magdeburg
http://dx.doi.org/10.25673/100982

States: In comparing primary auditory cortex (A1) response profiles of Mongolian gerbils while awake and ketamine anesthetized, I uncovered a non-linear process by which granular layer recurrent excitation was artificially amplified under ketamine. This was likely due to biased ketamine inhibition on parvalbumin releasing interneurons that would normally moderate this. 
Scales: To illuminate how microscopic channel dynamics affect neuronal populations in C57BL/6-based transgenic mice, we
optogenetically clustered the normally very mobile voltage gated calcium channels (VGCCs) in their pre-synaptic active zones. In single neurons, this reduces variability and increases neurotransmitter output. I established VGCC clustering across the entire A1 and found subsequent systemic suppression of neuronal activity in this area. This demonstrates the necessity of the variability introduced by VGCC mobility in neuronal populations, despite higher single neuron output.
Species: I compared A1 laminar activity from seba’s short-tailed bats and mice. The data revealed that bats had a better signal to noise ratio in response to repetitive stimuli, a fundamentally different phase amplitude coupling profile, and less inter-trial phase variability than mice. This study indicates a divergent evolution via differing recruitment of shared mammalian laminar cortical architecture.

Website Templates

created with

Website Builder Software .