NASA AMES Research Center

(650) 604-5150

Education-

- 1993 Ph.D., Physics, The University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
- 1983 M.S., Physics, The University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
- 1981 B.A., Physics and Math, Notre Dame University, Notre Dame, Indiana

Employment History

- Research Psychologist NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 2000-present
- Acting Branch Chief NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 2005
- Acting Deputy Division Chief NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 2004
- Senior Researcher San Jose State University Foundation, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 1997-2000
- Research Associate National Research Council, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 1994-1997
- Postdoctoral Fellow Stanford University Psychology Department, CA 1993-1994
- Research Assistant The University of Calif. at Berkeley Physics Dept. 1985-1993
- Teaching Assistant The University of Calif. at Berkeley Physics Dept. 1981-1992

Areas of Expertise

Experienced human factors research scientist investigating human performance and visual perception. Specific expertise in human search, motion perception and oculomotor control. Experience integrating eye-tracker technology and visual displays for psychology experiments. State of the art knowledge of both human and machine visual search, motion processing and detection, neural control mechanisms, pursuit and saccadic eye movements, optic flow, color vision and depth perception. Strong skills in modeling human performance, image processing and in developing quantitative tests of abstract ideas and hypotheses. Excellent team player - well developed communication and conflict resolution skills.

Skills and Experience

Visual Perception Research and Analysis
- Over twenty years experience in experimental conceptualization and design; familiarity with key vision experts in scientific community; thorough knowledge of current research theories and methods.
- Experienced research team coordinator and project manager; skilled at research and grant writing and presentation, coordination of technical teams including programmers, scientific consultants, students/interns and subjects.
- Technical expertise in developing and integrating eye-tracking and visual display technologies, formulating methods of analysis, and completing analytic framework for difficult technical projects; experience in hardware/software integration for psychophysics experimentation.
- Expert in research methodology, building quantitative models, use of probability and statistics, developing computer simulations and programming statistical software.

Human Performance Modeling
- Computer simulations expert; responsible for model design and testing in numerous experiments modeling human vision.
- Experience designing key experimental tests of models of human perception for a wide range of areas.
- Extensive mathematical training, expertise in signal detection theory, and experience in developing and evaluating computational signal processing models.
- Proficient with varied modeling and simulation programs, including IDL, Matlab, Mathematica, and Numerical Recipes in C, and software development experience with FORTRAN, Unix, and C.
Communication and Interpersonal Skills
- Strong oral and written communication skills; experienced lecturer and author of technical reports, scientific papers and presentations, grant proposals and internal communications.
- Strong teaching and interpersonal skills; experienced and highly motivated teacher, lab instructor, and mentor; ability to simply explain complex concepts and develop exciting and innovative presentations, proficient at tailoring explanations to people with various backgrounds and experience.
- Experienced manager and supervisor; good organizational skills, team player with strong ability to resolve conflicts and foster development of less experienced members.

Memberships and Associations

Invited as guest lecturer on experiments and theories of motion processing by the Stanford University Psychology Department, and by the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco. Presented research results at major scientific conferences, including the annual meetings of the European Conference of Vision Perception, the Vision Sciences Society, the Symposium for eye movements and vision in the natural world, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the Society for Neuroscience, NASA’s Space Human Factors Conference, the Optical Society of America, and The San Miniato International Workshop on Visual Attention.

A member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the Society for Neuroscience, the Vision Sciences Society, and a reviewer for the Army Research Office, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Vision Research, Journal of the Optical Society of America A, Perception, Psychological Science, and Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.