I am a PhD student in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Aarhus, Denmark where I conduct research on the neurobiology of meditation, social cognition, and neural plasticity. I’m particularly interested in the role of rest-stimulus interaction in learning and cognition, and have developed my own model of social-cognitive action control. I come from a diverse academic background, holding both a bachelors degree in Psychology and an MA in Philosophy & Cognitive Science. I’ve previously worked with phenomenologist Shaun Gallagher, investigating self-consciousness and the sense of agency. I maintain an active collaboration with the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, where I am conducting research on individual differences in resting-state connectivity and action-control mechanisms. I hope to continue to a post-doc investigating the relation of these areas to meditation and neurophenomenology. As an enactivist cognitive scientist, I am extremely grateful to be continuing the work begun by Francisco Varela. In my personal life, Vipassana meditation has been a powerful tool for serenity, and I continue to believe in the power of mental training for lifelong growth. The Varela award allowed me to take on a high-risk, labor of love project that would not have otherwise been possible, and I am extremely excited to see the results of the project.
