Susan Coltman

Rethinking How We Train Scientists for Today’s Careers How do we prepare early-career scientists for today’s wide range of paths in and beyond the lab? Jelena Patrnogić shares a new flexible competency framework she developed with Xiuqi Li and David Van V...

Jelena Patrnogić shares a new flexible competency framework she developed with Xiuqi Li and David Van Vactor to help prepare early-career scientists for today’s wide range of career paths in and beyond the lab. brain.harvard.edu/hbi_news/ret...

How do we keep Indigenous cultures alive? Chantelle Richmond, Director of the Indigenous Health Lab at Western University, shows how land, relationships, and community-led research create lasting impact.
www.theimpactproject.ca/stories/chan...

#IndigenousHealth #WesternUniversity #SocialScience

I see how easily confidence can stall when students don't yet recognize that friction as productive. What worries me about AI isn’t just whether it’s accurate, but that it might take away the challenges trainees need to really take ownership of their scientific identity.

Looking back, I realize it was those sorts of challenges that taught me how to troubleshoot, which has become one of my biggest strengths. As I transition to my own lab, I'm realizing that teaching others to work through that struggle is actually the hardest part.

This really resonates with me, Paul, especially what you said about growth through intellectual struggle. I remember a time in your lab when @joshcashaback.bsky.social wouldn’t give me the answer to a coding/design problem. I felt so frustrated then and just wanted someone to tell me the solution.

revised version of @mahdiyar45.bsky.social's paper: "A Context-Free Model of Savings in Motor Learning"
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #sensorimotor
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

I am excited to start at #UofG this July. I look forward to contributing to research and helping to build a strong, collaborative scientific community.

This paper expands my research methods to include transcutaneous nerve stimulation and fNIRS. We used a multi-method approach to measure hemodynamic responses during a 45-minute session, revealing a nonlinear temporal potentiation mechanism centered in the posterior parietal cortex.

RetINaBox: A Hands-On Learning Tool for Experimental Neuroscience An exciting aspect of neuroscience is developing and testing hypotheses via experimentation. However, due to logistical and financial hurdles, the experiment and discovery component of neuroscience is...

Are you thinking about doing neuroscience outreach but want to make it more exciting or hands on?

Check out RetINaBox! (A collab led by the Trenholm lab)

We tried to bring the experience of experimental neuroscience to a classroom setting:

www.eneuro.org/content/13/1...

#neuroscience 🧪

This milestone reflects a collective effort, and I am deeply grateful to each of you.

Stay tuned for updates on our research program, upcoming recruitment opportunities, and future collaborations!

#NewPI #MotorLearning #FeedbackIntegration #Neuroscience #UniversityOfGuelph #WomenInSTEM

Abigail Person, who opened the world of mouse research and taught me new skills and insights (animal research wasn't my forever path, but I respect that world); and Xiaogang Hu, who offered me a place to pivot back to human research while building insights from a mechanical engineering perspective.

To my other mentors who shaped this journey: Liana Brown, who helped me find my way back to academia after retiring from sports; @joshcashaback.bsky.social , who showed me the road ahead and supported me through all the ups and downs;

Heather McGregor: You have been my absolute rock. Starting as peers in Paul's lab, we built a friendship that has carried me through every pivot point, both through the excitement and the tears. I genuinely could not have done this without you.

@gribblelab.org You grounded me in the scientific enterprise, teaching me that rigorous science starts with clear questions, careful design, and openness. I'm honored that our relationship has grown from trainee to peer, and I'm grateful to have you as a mentor and colleague I can always rely on.

In addition to family support, I could not have arrived at this moment without the incredible academic mentors and support along the way.

I plan to build a research program investigating how individuals process and integrate feedback during motor learning. In my lab, we'll explore how the brain dynamically adjusts its reliance on vision, touch, and proprioception in response to task demands, learning stage, and individual differences.

Throughout these pivots, I've often questioned the path ahead. But Paul once told me, "If there's passion in the question, don't leave." He was right. My passion for these questions, which started when I was an athlete and continued through every transition, has been my compass.

After retiring from sports, I returned to academia and explored movement through various approaches, including computational methods, mouse models, prosthetics, and sensory feedback, always grounded in understanding how individual differences influence the way we learn and adapt motor skills.

My interest in motor learning and control stems from over 15 years of competing as a world-ranked heptathlete in track and field. My path has not been straightforward.

✨ Exciting News! ✨

I am thrilled to share that I will be joining the University of Guelph's Department of Psychology in Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science as an Assistant Professor, starting July 1, 2026. I will be returning to Canada on Canada Day!

I will be starting a motor control lab in July 2026, would love to take this over and put to good use!

Congratulations 🎉

Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey were my childhood heroes. While most little girls had Barbie dolls or my little pony collections, I had more than 100 stuffed monkeys. I am obsessed with primates. My first dream job was to become a zoologist and study them, just like Jane.

Rest in peace, to a legend who taught us all to hope and to act.

She showed an entire generation of girls, including me, that we could be scientists, that we could be brave enough to go into the wild and change the world through curiosity and compassion.

Join us for the October CNS-PDS seminar on Thursday, October 2nd, 2025 (9am PST / 12pm EST / 1:30pm NST).

Speakers:
• Richard Gao (Goethe University)
• Pedro Henrique Guedes (University of Saskatchewan)

Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

All are welcome.

How to design your academic website - Nature Human Behaviour An academic website serves as both a public-facing window on the world wide web and an important internal laboratory resource. In this ‘How to’ piece, I outline how to build your academic website, including what content to include, and ways to build and launch your site.

In this 'How to' Comment, @gribblelab.org gives advice on how to think about one's academic website and how to go about building one. #AcademicWebsite
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Network dynamics for sensory prioritization: Functional connectivity related to individual sensory weighting of vision versus proprioception during upper limb control Precise control of the hand requires the dynamic integration of visual and proprioceptive (body position sense) sensory cues with internal models, task goals, and motor plans. Individual differences i...

Preprint alert!

Individual preferences in relying on vision or proprioception in reaching show distinct patterns in connectivity across sensorimotor network.

Happy to have contributed to this nice piece of work by Kess, @hjblock.bsky.social and other cool people!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The CAN Postdoc Seminar Series is back this Thursday, Sept 11!
Fresh lineup of speakers through the fall.
Join us monthly & connect with postdocs across Canada.

Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Living Science: Love writing Clear writing is the key to success in science.

doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

The Incompatibilities Between Generative AI and Art: Q&A with Ted Chiang The Incompatibilities Between Generative AI and Art: Q&A with Ted Chiang

"Your job is not to turn in completed assignments; it's to learn how to think."

cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...