Susan Coltman

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...

E.M., you are not alone. 💜

We are showing our support for you and all survivors with a full page in today’s Globe & Mail.

#CourageCampaign #WeSupportEM

You can sign on too: actionnetwork.org/forms/em-we-...

We are excited to share our new paper that dives into how ongoing decision deliberation reflects ongoing movements: (jneurosci.org/content/45/3...
A tour-de-force by the incredible Jan Calalo.

Do you have some exciting results that you would like to share? Are you a #Postdoc in #Canada or #Canadian abroad? We are selecting #speakers for the (second round of the) 2025 Canadian #Neuroscience #Seminars: Postdoctoral Series. Apply by July 6th, 2025 @ 23:59PT.

Faith Kipyegon finishes a race, her head tilted back and eyes closed in exertion. A quote from her: "If it’s not me it will be somebody else — one day a woman will run under four.”

From @theathletic.bsky.social: Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon fell short in her bid to become the first woman to break the four-minute mile. Kipyegon ran 4:06.92, the fastest time over the distance recorded by a woman, breaking her own world record. nyti.ms/44AXZll

To my American friends: As Trump shuts down your LGBT+ suicide and mental health crisis hotline during these trying times, Canada has added a US toll-free number to ours so you can get help anytime you need at no cost. Kindness and empathy have no borders. 1-877-330-6366 Visual of a classic telephone with a red and white striped flag with a red maple leaf (Canada's national flag)

From Canada with love

Pro tip, folks: if you make a figure for a publication, don’t just hand the copyright over to the publisher. Post it on OSF first and then give yourself permission to use it in the first publication and then all future publications. That way, no permissions issues.

Medical Research Funding — Unbreaking How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.

I urge everyone to read Unbreaking’s new page on everything the govt is doing to destroy & diminish medical research funding.

It’s the best thing I’ve read on this topic: @lizneeley.bsky.social & co have such done an incredible job.

unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

I have seen folks waste so much time by not properly planning research. Missed literature, missing controls, ignored hypotheses, etc. Lack of planning also produces bad science (e.g. analysis until significant). So I am writing an app. Looking for feedback. scientific-paper-planner-test.vercel.app

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...