I am a doctoral student in cognitive systems neuroscience at the University of Oregon, advised by Dr. Rob Chavez. My research focuses on neuroaesthetics, complexity, self models, and altered states of consciousness.

I am especially interested in how perception becomes meaningful experience. For example, how does visual structure interact with prior beliefs (of self and world) to shape what feels personally meaningful across encounters with art, nature, other people, and psychedelic states? I approach these questions through cognitive neuroscience, psychology, active inference, and computational accounts of perception, with particular interest in how the brain constructs representations of the self and integrates them with ongoing perceptual and emotional experience.

I am also a Fellow of the Active Inference Institute, where I contribute to interdisciplinary conversations in theoretical neuroscience. Previously, I worked as a clinical research coordinator in the CHAOS Lab at the University of Colorado Anschutz, managing clinical trials on substance use and cognitive impairment, with a focus on cannabis and psychedelics.