Adam J Calhoun

What do I do?

My research focuses on how brains make decisions and choose behaviors. I develop tools and techniques that allow us to precisely quantify which behaviors an animal is performing by using machine learning. I am primarily interested in studying natural and social behaviors - behaviors that animals will perform without training. Currently, I am using fruit fly courtship as a way to investigate these questions.

I think it is important to understand scientific problems from many angles. To understand behavior, I use concepts from neuroscience, psychology, economics, ecology, physics, computer science, and more.

I write about science, about ideas.

I make data visualizations.

I run the NeuroRumblr, a website to aggregate information about neuroscience conferences and faculty jobs.

What else have I done?

My first job was at Intel. I have worked for a tech startup, an economic consulting firm, and in solar physics. I have a Masters in Mathematics from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of California - San Diego, where I worked at the Salk Institute. I currently work at Princeton University.