Research Experience

August 2017 - Present

Graduate Student Researcher

Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow

Advisor: Jose M. Carmena

Designed and conducted experiments in awake, behaving nonhuman primates using closed-loop brain-computer interfaces, and multi-site electrophysiology recordings to study large-scale network plasticity.
Designed and conducted experiments comparing the effects on mood of closed-loop microsimulation of prefrontal
cortical brain regions to known anxiolytic drugs to develop systems-based neurotherapies.
Analyzed time-series neural, physiological, and kinematic data using machine learning and statistical analysis.
Decoded information about action-intention and mood-state from bio-signals acquired in real-time using supervised learning techniques.
Presented key findings at international conferences (IEEE Neural Engineering, Society for Neuroscience) and local conferences (UC Berkeley Neuroscience, Center for Neural Engineering & Prosthesis).
Awarded National Science Foundation Graduate Student Research Fellowship.

July 2024 - May 2025

Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas, Austin

Dean's Scholar, Junior Fellow

Advisor: Alison R. Preston

Investigated cortical representations of semantic memory using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Quantified semantic similarity between famous people and places by constructing models of semantic similarity using natural language processing techniques and online text corpora.
Analyzed behavioral and neuroimaging data using regression modeling, representational similarity analysis, and multi-variate pattern analysis.
Presented key findings at international conferences (Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Society for Neuroscience) and local conferences (Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium).
Awarded Society for Neuroscience Trainee Professional Development Award and the College of Natural Sciences Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

May 2015 - August 2015
May 2016 - August 2016

Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany

DAAD RISE Summer Research Fellow

Advisor: Manfred Gahr

Studied the effect of breeding conditions on zebra finch communication and vocal repertoire composition using vocal recordings obtained from light-weight telemetric microphone backpacks.
Analyzed vocal and behavioral data using hierarchical linear models and unsupervised clustering analysis.
Awarded DAAD Research in Science & Engineering fellowship and Marion Burke travel award.