I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at Brandeis University in the lab of Dr. Shantanu Jadhav. My research focuses on how the brain creates and navigates cognitive maps. I use in vivo electrophysiology in rodents performing complex behavioral tasks to investigate how different brain regions perform different functions such memory formation, memory retrieval, and planning for the future. 

Previously, I did my Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. David Bilkey and then a postdoc with Dr. Kristin Hillman at the University of Otago in New Zealand. At Otago my research encompassed how the brain represents physically demanding experiences and how the brain makes the decision to persist at a challenging task or to quit. I also worked with Dr. Michael Colombo looking at the neural correlates of cognition in pigeons.

Outside of science and research I enjoy photography, podcasts, the stock market, weight lifting, video games, and craft beers.

blake porter head shot