Rudy Bellani is a graduating PhD student at Rockefeller. In the Nottebohm lab, he studied how the song of birds comes under the control of one brain hemisphere. He collect brains (his coolest one is a baby squirrel brain) and bird nests (he has an AWESOME bananaquit nest from Tobago). He says he'd have a lot more collections of weird stuff but his wife wisely set a limit of two things at any one time. Recently, he has taken up bread making, and to counter that carb-rich hobby, he is training for the 2012 NYC marathon. Wish him luck--his shin-splint prone legs will need it! In his spare time, he's trying to teach himself economics with a particular focus on how economic forces have shaped history and morality. He will soon be starting a job at McKinsey & Company as a management consultant specializing in organization and strategy which is going to be awesome fun.

Clare Walton graduated from Rockefeller in June 2011 with a PhD in Cellular Neuroscience. She used a sociable species of bird, the zebra finch, to look at the regeneration of song neurons- the brain cells that control singing. In addition to starting and running the SNP with Rudy for 3 years, she taught amazingly fun science on the Biobus and science writing at the American Museum of Natural History. Clare has recently returned to her native home of London, England, where she is working as a science communicator for The Stroke Association, a national charity fighting to combat stroke in the UK.

Kate Leitch

Kate Leitch has always loved animals - she spent her childhood summers in Michigan catching frogs and fish just so she could get a closer look. The question of how animals sense their worlds began to haunt her when she learned that some insects can see colors that humans cannot! Now, as a 3rd-year PhD student in Jim Hudspeth's lab, she focuses on the evolution of hearing systems. Outside the lab, she draws, bakes cakes, hikes in upstate NY, hangs out with friends, and does yoga.

Lindsay Bellani

Lindsay Bellani is a 3rd-year PhD student in the Vosshall Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior at Rockefeller.  In the lab, she is trying to answer the age-old question: "Why do mosquitoes bite some people more than others?"   Lindsay grew up just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Go Steelers!) and then traveled to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go Tar Heels!) for college.  In her spare time, Lindsay is attempting to learn Spanish and enjoys baking delicious treats.

Roman Corfas

Roman Corfas is a 3rd-year PhD student in the Vosshall Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior. He studies the molecular and neuronal basis of heat-seeking in mosquitoes. He hails from Argentina, Israel, and Boston, and studied at Oberlin College in Ohio. Outside the lab, Roman enjoys rocking the guitar and reading history books.

The Rockefeller Summer Neuroscience Program is held at:
The Rockefeller University
1230 York Avenue (at 66th St)
New York, NY 10065