简介

I have always been interested in understanding how the nervous system controls behavior. My first laboratory experiences, while earning my B.S. in Biology at Stanford University, were using ground squirrels to understand thermoregulation. I earned my Ph.D. in Biology, with a concentration in Neuroscience, at Princeton University in 1987, studying the genetic bases of learning and memory in Drosophila. During a post-doc at the University of California, Berkeley, I used cellular imaging techniques to study early neuronal development in the grasshopper. I then began work on my current project, using the nematode C. elegans to study how the nervous system directs behavior. We study many levels of organization, from individual genes through cells and circuits and behavioral outputs, both during development and in the adult. This research was started as a post-doc, then continued during my work as a Research Scientist at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. I moved to Ohio University in 2002, to combine my research activities with teaching and mentoring.