What type of neuroscience research do you do and what got you interested in this research?

I am a fifth year graduate student in the Department of Neuroscience, at the University of Arizona. I study how mammalian brains use sensory information dynamically to guide motor behaviors. I use echolocating bats as an animal model to understand how echos help bats perceive their environment for efficient navigation and hunting behavior. I am interested in understanding neural activity underlying behavior in the context of naturalistic tasks and challenges. And bats provide an excellent model system to study naturalistic behavior in a laboratory context. I use a combination of tools such as behavioral monitoring, multi-channel electrophysiology and optogenetic stimulation to understand neural circuits in play during active sensing behaviors.

What challenges did you encounter along the way, and how did you overcome these challenges?

My lab started in Jan 2020, two months before we shut down due to the pandemic. So in addition to setting up a new lab, we had to embrace the challenges of doing so during the pandemic years of uncertainty and limited access to resources and personnel. We also work with a rare model organism that isn't easy to obtain. These unusual combination of challenges made our start slow and unpredictable. But I am fortunate to work with a Mentor and lab members who have a mindset of learning, resilience and growth through hurdles. We rely heavily on each other as a team, and  navigating these challenges in a supportive environment played a key role in making incremental progress over time.

Do you have a recent publication or abstract that you would like to share? 

Google Scholar Link: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=e4pbU84AAAAJ&hl=en