Full Research Description
I graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in Neuroscience in 2017. While at Middlebury, I worked with Dr. Mark Spritzer investigating the role of androgens in spatial memory in both rats and wild meadow voles. Post-graduation, I worked as for two years as a research technician in Dr. Richard Axel’s lab here at Columbia in the Zuckerman Mind, Brain, and Behavior Institute. In the Axel Lab, I specifically worked with post-doctoral researcher Dr. Bianca Jones Marlin, whose research focuses on the potential transgenerational effects and mechanisms of learned trauma in mice. Using light sheet microscopy and brain clearing techniques, I helped to establish a method with which we could visualize and count individual olfactory sensory neurons and glomeruli within the olfactory epithelium and bulb. Additionally, I developed a number of behavioral assays designed to determine olfactory/taste sensitivity and avoidance.
As a PhD student, I hope to be able to combine my experience in neuroscience and behavior with an equally strong background in genetics and molecular biology. Ideally, I will be able to work at the junction of these fields, investigating the role that an organism’s environment can play in gene expression and development.
