What is your role in the lab? 

I am a full time research assistant, and my primary role in the lab is MRI data collection and data management. I also look forward to honing my skills in data analysis and learning more about novel neuroscience techniques during my time in the Speech Neurophysiology Lab.

What excites you most about your work?

I am fundamentally motivated by a love of learning and an innate desire to help others. Contributing to neurodevelopmental research at UofM allows me to channel both of these passions into a single effort. In my work, I get to study arguably the most interesting topic available to modern science: the human brain. Additionally, my daily interactions with study participants serves as a constant reminder of the practical benefits our research can have in the lives of real people.

What do you like to do in your free time? Do you have any hobbies?

Outside of the lab, I enjoy cooking and exploring the local trails with my dog, Zeus. We generally run or do longer distance hikes around Ann Arbor, but I am hoping to do a multi-day backpacking trip in the Upper Peninsula during my time here in Michigan! I also enjoy reading and debating philosophy, particularly the philosophies of science, mind, and morality. So, if you are also interested in talking metaphysics, the mind-body problem, or questions of free will, come find me!

If you could learn one new skill overnight, what would you want it to be?

This is probably going to sound very boring, but in all honesty if I could learn any skill I would want to become a master of statistics and coding. After all, a scientist is only as good as her tools!

Besides the unknowns around stuttering, what’s another scientific mystery that you find interesting?

I am most interested in understanding how what we call the mind, consciousness, or the subjective sense of awareness, relates to our brains and bodies. I believe the pervasive reductionist approach to this question is reaching the limits of its explanatory power and that the related fields of psychology, neuroscience, biology, and computer science will need to explore alternative paradigms in the coming decades if they are to continue to make progress. I am excited to be beginning my academic career at such a pivotal and exciting moment in the history of science.