SCHMIDT AI POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW

Ling-Wei merges insights from nonlinear dynamics, machine learning, physics, and complex systems to confront ecology's pressing challenges. His interests span levels of organization - from neural to demographic. Ling-Wei’s site.

NSF POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW

Alexis is an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology studying the processes that link individual phenotypes, collective behavior and ecological function. She earned her PhD from Columbia University in the department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, where she studied the evolution of cooperative group-living and how sociality helps organisms cope with unpredictable environmental variability.

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER

Jay leverages deep practical experience from several fields to study complex phenomena in living systems. He is especially interested in the evolution of individual and group behaviors.

PHD STUDENT

Abby is a PhD candidate in computational biology whose research bridges marine ecology and quantitative methods. Using the coral reef fish C. multilineata as a model system, she investigates how grouping behaviors shape population dynamics. She also develops machine learning and computer vision tools to make quantitative methods more accessible to ecologists.  Abby received her B.S. in Marine Science and Ecology from Boston University.

PHD STUDENT

Amlan is a physicist by training with a background in studying animal groups using computational approaches. He is mainly interested in how decision-making, information transfer and movement affect the behavioral aspects of animal groups.

PHD STUDENT

Lucas is a marine biologist from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile where he studied both marine biofilms and planktonic network interactions of microorganisms. He is interested in ecosystem and communities dynamics and the potential of machine learning tools to unravel these.  

PHD STUDENT (co-advised with Messer lab)

I’m interested in how the social dynamics influence the well-being of a population. Specifically, I study the adaptation of social populations using computational models and population genetic theories.

PHD ROTATION STUDENT (NBB)

Circuit modeling and neurobiology of zebrafish.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER

Chris is an undergraduate at Cornell majoring in Computer Science. He works with us on computer vision, 3D reconstruction, and automated analysis of field imagery.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER

I'm interested in understanding large-scale systems and applying mathematical techniques and modeling to better understand large scale biological phenomena. I am currently working on studying network models of fish and how stimuli impact the network on both an individual and a large scale.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER

I am interested in understanding how neural circuits encode and transform sensory information to drive behavior, particularly through quantitative analysis of sensorimotor decision-making in model organisms.

POSTDOCTORAL SCIENTIST

Mike earned his PhD in Biology from the University of Florida and, before joining us, held an NSF-funded postdoctoral fellowship in Andy Sih’s group at UC Davis. Mike works on cutting-edge science at the interface of ecology, animal behavior, and conservation(Mike’s website). Mike is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

POSTDOCTORAL SCIENTIST, NRC FELLOW

Ashkaan is a an ecologist with a background in both theory and experiments. He is interested in species interactions, ecosystem dynamics, and generally all things ecological. He worked with us on dynamics of information spread in animal groups. Ashkaan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida Atlantic University.

POSTDOCTORAL + PROJECT SCIENTIST

Vamsi earned his PhD in engineering from Stanford. His work with our lab focused on the interface between physics of fluid flow and fish behavior, ecology, and migration (Vamsi’s website). Vamsi is currently an engineer at Tetra Tech.

UNDERGRAD RESEARCHER

Ben is an Earth and Planetary Sciences major at UC Santa Cruz. He worked with us on machine learning methods for data collection and inferring behavioral control rules.

UNDERGRAD RESEARCHER, TECHNICIAN

Gurleen graduated in Human Biology at UCSC in 2019. She worked with us on escape decision-making and navigation projects. She now applies her scientific skills in the biotech industry.

POSTDOCTORAL + PROJECT SCIENTIST

Natnael worked with us on Machine Learning and AI applications. He is now a data scientist in the private sector.

UNDERGRAD RESEARCHER

Scott is an undergraduate Neuroscience major at UCSC. He worked with us on escape decision-making and underwater computer vision.

STAFF DATA SCIENTIST/ENGINEER

Mimi is a software engineer and applied mathematician with several decades of industry experience. She worked with us as a data scientist and software engineer applying machine learning and computational modeling to problems in animal behavior and ecology. She is now retired.

RESEARCH TECHNICIAN

Sam graduated with a data science major from Berkeley. He worked with us on computer vision and machine learning for behavioral inference. He is now pursuing research career in ethical AI.

ROTATING PHD STUDENT

Kaarthik was a rotating PhD student in Physics at Cornell. He worked with us on models of collective behavior and dysfunction in biological networks.

POSTDOCTORAL SCIENTIST

Simone is a computational fluid dynamicist. He worked with us on fusing fluid dynamics with models of animal decision-making to understand how animals move through their environments. He is now a staff scientist at NOAA/UC Santa Cruz.

POSTDOCTORAL SCIENTST

Ben completed his PhD at Stanford, where he studied the ecology and social behavior of cephalopods. He worked with us on individual and collective evasion behavior. He is currently a staff scientist at NOAA/UC Santa Cruz.

Formerly a post-masters researcher in the Hein Lab. Jocasta is interested in brain function and its involvement in neurological disorders and disease. Currently a PhD Student in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT.

Jenny is an undergraduate at Cornell majoring in Computer Science. She worked with the Hein Lab on computer vision and automated behavior inference.

Rahi is an undergraduate at Cornell majoring in Data Science. She worked with us on computer vision and automated video segmentation.