Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee

The Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee (SPC) works with the members of the VSS Board of Directors to make VSS responsive to the needs of our trainee members and early career researchers. The SPC organizes special events and workshops for trainees in vision science during the annual VSS meeting. These include discussions on career transitions, inclusivity & accessibility, and new scientific directions. The SPC also consults with the board and with other vision community partners (FoVea, Visibility, SPARK) to provide trainees’ perspectives and optimize the society and the conference for trainee members.

Interested in joining SPC?

Each year, VSS solicits nominations for new members of the Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee to replace those rotating off. VSS seeks a diverse set of graduate and postdoctoral scholars to represent young investigators at a variety of career stages, who study a variety of topics, who bring diverse perspectives, and who reside in different regions of the globe. Service on the SPC (2-year term) provides an excellent opportunity to have a positive impact on the vision science community, to develop professional skills such as team building and project management, and to develop a track record of academic service. Watch for announcements from VSS in mid-February about how to apply.

Current SPC members are indicated below. Terms end in May of the year shown.

Avi Aizenman (2025)

University of Giessen

Avi Aizenman is postdoctoral researcher at Giessen University in Germany, working with Professor Karl Gegenfurtner. Her research aims to understand the eye and head movements coordinated in the natural world, and in virtual reality. She is broadly interested in understanding how gaze behavior explains our perception of the visual world. Avi is excited to be joining the student-postdoc advisory committee and is looking forward to collaborating with like-minded peers to support and advocate for a dynamic and diverse group of early career researchers.

Claudia Damiano (2024) Board Liaison

University of Toronto

Claudia Damiano is a Research Associate (senior postdoctoral researcher) at the University of Toronto, working with Dirk Bernhardt-Walther. She previously completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Leuven, Belgium, working with Johan Wagemans. Broadly, her research investigates how mid-level visual features influence aesthetic preferences and guide visual attention. As a member of the SPC, Claudia hopes to be an advocate for early career researchers and members of underrepresented groups, and she is committed to making VSS even more open and inclusive than it already is.

Rebecca Hornsey (2024) Chair

University of Stirling

After completing her PhD in Psychology at the University of Essex, Rebecca is now a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Stirling. Her research interests surround the investigation of visual perception in virtual environments and she is currently researching multi-sensory cure integration within augmented reality headsets. As part of the committee, and as an early career researcher herself, Rebecca is keen to liaise with other early career researchers and help improve the experience of those in the VSS community. Rebecca is also looking forward to sharing her passion of vision research with a wider network of individuals, and organising exciting, new events.

Akihito Maruya (2025)

State University of New York

Akihito Maruya is a PhD student with Qasim Zaidi at the SUNY Graduate Center for Vision Research in NYC . He studies 3D perception in scenes and pictures, perception of rigid and non-rigid 3D objects, and form distortions perceived by adult and children amblyopes, using psychophysics and computational models. As a member of the VSS-SPC, he would like to make VSS even more inviting to students who have taken a non-traditional path to science and for whom English is not the first language.

Jessica Parker (2025)

University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Jes Parker is a graduate student in the Experimental Psychology doctoral program at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. They primarily investigate visual perception and memory across saccadic eye movements using eye tracking and functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Specifically, they are interested in examining visual stability, the role of different types of information in the establishment of object correspondence, and the interaction between saccades and visual working memory. As a member of the Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee, they want to contribute to the progress towards a more diverse community of researchers that fosters both the growing representation and retention of individuals from historically underrepresented populations.

Stephanie Shields (2024) Record Keeper

University of Texas at Austin

Stephanie Shields is a graduate student pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience at The University of Texas at Austin. She is interested in studying how sensory information is processed in neural circuits to support perception, particularly stereoscopic perception. Her dissertation research focuses on the impact of environment-to-retinae geometry on the encoding and perception of 3D orientation. Stephanie is committed to helping support the needs and success of her fellow early career researchers, and she looks forward to doing so as a member of VSS’s SPC.

Incoming SPC Members (2025-2026)

Amy Bucklaew (2026)

University of Rochester

Amy Bucklaew is a PhD student at the University of Rochester working with Dr. Jude Mitchell. Her research aims to investigate the neural mechanisms of visual attention and saccadic eye movements using eye tracking, electrophysiology, and optogenetic techniques. Her dissertation research focuses on how extra-retinal signals modulate tunning and response properties of neurons in area MT/MTC. Amy is committed to listening to different perspectives across the VSS community and building support for the needs of fellow early career researchers.

Victoria Jacoby (2026)

University of California, Los Angeles

Victoria Jacoby is a PhD candidate working with Dr. Phil Kellman at the University of California, Los Angeles. Following the completion of her degree, she will pursue a postdoctoral research fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital with Dr. Jeremy Wolfe. Her research has focused on optimizing perceptual learning in real-world categorization tasks and she is particularly interested in investigating the roles of perceptual learning and visual attention in medical image perception. As a member of the SPC, Victoria is committed to promoting accessibility and inclusivity in the VSS community and is looking forward to working with her fellow committee members to support the needs of early career researchers.

Christian Sinnott (2026)

Smith-Kettlewell Eye Institute

Christian Sinnott is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute working with Dr. Natela Shanidze. Broadly, Christian is interested in the multisensory processes underlying accurate self-motion perception in everyday life for neurotypical and clinical populations. He is interested in how quantitative characteristics of sensory information change during action, and how perception is challenged in sensorily impoverished environments (e.g., darkness, underwater, microgravity). Christian hopes to advocate for students and other early career researchers’ needs as a member of the SPC.

Enhancing Accessibility Workshop

Saturday, May 18, 2024, 12:45 – 2:15 pm, Sabal/Sawgrass

Organized by: Rebecca Hornsey, University of Stirling and Jessica Parker, University of Tennessee-Knoxville (VSS Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee); Rowan Candy and Anya Hurlbert (VSS Diversity & Inclusion Committee) Moderator: Rebecca Hornsey, University of Stirling
Speakers: Lucas Nadólskis, UCSB; Yingzi Xiong, Johns Hopkins University; Annabel Nijhof, Ghent University
Panelists: Santani Teng, MIT; Lenia Amaral, Georgetown University

This event will address opportunities to make conferences and research laboratories more accessible for participants with visual, auditory and neurodivergence challenges. It will include presentations from conference attendees with experience in these areas, a panel discussion about steps we can all take to make academic environments more accessible, and roundtable discussions for the attendees. We will be collecting feedback at the event for ways the conference can have improved accessibility for attendees.

Refreshments and light lunch will be available.

Lucas Gil Nadólskis

University of California, Santa Barbara

Lucas Gil Nadolskis is a first-year PhD student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, working in the Bionic Vision Lab under the supervision of Dr. Michael Beyeler. Despite being blind since the age of five, Lucas has dedicated his academic and research pursuits to advancing visual prosthetics. During his master’s program in Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, Lucas collaborated with Professor Matthew Smith, analysing data collected from visual cortex implants in two monkeys. His current research deals with exploring neural correlations in blind and low-vision visual cortex, with a special emphasis on multimodal aspects of working memory. He is currently involved with the exploration of data coming from cortical brain implants from blind volunteers, with the goal of developing a smarter bionic eye.

Yingzi Xiong

Johns Hopkins University

Yingzi Xiong is an Assistant Professor at the Lions Vision Research and Rehabilitation Center at the Wilmer Eye Insititute, Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Xiong’s research is motivated by the questions of how the human brain learns new knowledge, adapts to changes, and rehabilitates after impairments occur. She seeks the answers to these questions in human vision and hearing, from both basic and translational science points of view. Her ongoing projects investigate the interaction of senses in real life activities to develop effective training methods, establish tools for clinical and self-assessment, and increase the accessibility of digital devices and environments.

Annabel Nijhof

Ghent University

Annabel Nijhof is a researcher in psychology / neuroscience at the Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology at Ghent University. She has obtained postdoctoral fellowships to work at King’s College London and Ghent University on projects related to the ‘self’ in autism. Generally, her research interests focus on the behavioural and neural processes underlying how we engage and interact with others, and how we distinguish the ‘self’ from the ‘other’. She is particularly interested in the similarities and differences in these processes between individuals with an autism diagnosis and neurotypical individuals. In addition, she is passionate about science communication.

Rebecca Hornsey

University of Stirling

Rebecca Hornsey is a Research Fellow at the University of Stirling, where she is currently working on a multisensory cue integration project to determine the types of cues which can be used to enhance visual search performance in complex, natural environments. Her research interests surround visual perception in virtual environments, particularly through the use of head-mounted display systems and psychophysical methodology. Rebecca is keen to liaise with other early career researchers and seasoned researchers, and to help improve the experience of those in the VSS community.

Unveiling the Potential of AI in Understanding Human Vision with Ethical Integration

Saturday, May 18, 2024, 12:45 – 2:15 pm EDT, Snowy Egret

Organizers: Akihito Maruya, State University of New York and Avi Aizenman, University of Giessen (VSS Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee); Shin’ya Nishida (VSS Board of Directors)
Moderator: Akihito Maruya, State University of New York
Speakers: Bei Xiao, American University; Miguel Eckstein, University of California, Santa Barbara; Thomas Wallis, TU Darmstadt

In recent years, AI has made significant strides, becoming accessible and implementable for many individuals without an extensive background in computer science. Can we harness AI’s capabilities to deepen our understanding of human vision while considering ethical implications? In this context, we introduce three pioneering speakers who currently leverage AI to enrich their comprehension of the visual system.

The first speaker conducts research on material perception through psychophysical experiments. She employs StyleGAN to systematically generate various material properties, delving into human material perception, and utilizes diverse large language models to establish connections between material perception and language. She will discuss the impact of AI on her research and understanding of vision, delve into technical details, and discuss the general issue about AI and Vision Science. A 20-minute presentation is followed by Q&A.

The second speaker utilizes AI to investigate covert attention, medical image search, and gaze perception. He will explore how AI influences his research and understanding of vision, providing technical insights and identifying potential AI-related challenges on Vision Science. Additionally, he will pose the broader question: Can deep neural networks perceive the world as humans do? By instructing neural networks based on human vision principles, can they demonstrate intelligent thinking and performance comparable to ours? A 20-minute presentation is followed by Q&A.

Finally, AI stands as a rapidly evolving technology with the potential to revolutionize research and innovation in unprecedented ways. However, this advancement comes with an equally significant responsibility: the ethical integration of AI into scientific workflows. The third speaker will delve into pressing ethical questions, guiding scientists on how to harness the power of AI while upholding ethical standards. Through a 20-minute presentation followed by a 10-minute Q&A session, he will offer insights into ethical AI integration, facilitating discussion on ethical practices in scientific endeavors.

Bei Xiao

American University

Bei Xiao is Provost Associate Professor of Computer Science at American University, where she leads the Computational Material Perception Laboratory. Her research focuses on how the human visual system estimate physical and functional properties of objects in our surroundings. Another focus of her research is to apply results from human perception and cognition to develop robust computer vision algorithms. Specifically, she studies perception and recognition of material properties, intuitive physics, estimation of 3D shape, perception of multi-sensory properties of objects in dynamic scenes. She uses a combination of human psychophysics, computer graphics, machine learning, image processing, and VR/AR techniques. Prior to joining AU, she was a postdoctoral associate in Brain and Cognitive Science at MIT. She also did a postdoctoral training at Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research has been funded by NIH, NSF, and Google Research.

Miguel Eckstein

UC Santa Barbara

Miguel Eckstein earned a Bachelor Degree in Physics and Psychology at UC Berkeley and a Doctoral Degree in Cognitive Psychology at UCLA. He then worked at the Department of Medical Physics and Imaging, Cedars Sinai Medical Center and NASA Ames Research Center before moving to UC Santa Barbara. He is recipient of the Optical Society of America Young Investigator Award, the Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) Image Perception Cum Laude Award, Cedars Sinai Young Investigator Award, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the National Academy of Sciences Troland Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has served as the chair of the Vision Technical Group of the Optical Society of America, chair of the Human Performance, Image Perception and Technology Assessment conference of the SPIE Medical Imaging Annual Meeting, Vision Editor of the Journal of the Optical Society of America A, the board of directors of the Vision Sciences Society, the board of editors of Journal of Vision, and as a member of National Institute of Health study section panels on Mechanisms of Sensory, Perceptual and Cognitive Processes and Biomedical Imaging Technology.

He has published over 200 articles relating to computational human vision, visual attention, search, perceptual learning, the perception of medical images. He has published in journals/conferences spanning a wide range of disciplines: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Human Behavior, Current Biology, Journal of Neuroscience, Psychological Science, PLOS Computational Biology, Annual Reviews in Vision Science, Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), IEEE Transactions in Medical Imaging, International Conference in Learning Representations (ICLR), Neuroimage, Academic Radiology, Journal of the Optical Society of America A, Medical Physics, Journal of Vision, Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception and Performance, Vision Research, and SPIE Medical Imaging.

Thomas S.A. Wallis

Technische Universität Darmstadt

Thomas S.A. Wallis is the Professor for Perception at the Institute of Psychology and Centre for Cognitive Science, TU Darmstadt. His interests mostly focus on visual perception in humans and machines, but also include machine learning and cognitive modelling and applications of visual perception research (image quality, driving).

Thomas finished his PhD in Psychology in 2010 in Derek Arnold’s lab at the University of Queensland, Australia, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship with Peter Bex in Boston, before moving to Germany in 2013 to work with Felix Wichmann and Matthias Bethge. He spent two years working as a scientist at Amazon research before joining the TU Darmstadt as a professor in 2021.

More information can be found on his CV and he can also be found on Google scholar, Orcid and Twitter. His pronouns are he/him (er/ihm).

Career Transitions Workshop

Sunday, May 19, 2024, 1:00 – 2:00 pm EDT, Snowy Egret

Organizers: Claudia Damiano, University of Toronto and Stephanie Shields, University of Texas at Austin (VSS Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee); Jody Culham (VSS Board of Directors)
Moderator: Claudia Damiano, University of Toronto
Speakers: Robert Geirhos, Google DeepMind; Joan Ongchoco, University of British Columbia: Woon Ju Park, University of Washington; Jake Whritner, Exponent

Back by popular demand! Following requests to repeat last year’s event, the VSS-SPC is hosting a panel discussion on early career transitions, from the undergraduate level up through securing faculty positions and jobs outside of academia. A panel of vision scientists with a variety of chosen career paths will discuss their stories, the transitions they’ve gone through in their careers, and how they made the key decisions that led them to their current jobs. After each panelist gives an overview of their story, audience members will be invited to participate in a question-and-answer session with the panel. The panel will include representatives from both academia and industry, so attendees will hear firsthand perspectives both on navigating academia and on transitioning between academia and industry. Especially given the recent layoffs in industry and the pandemic’s lasting impact on hiring in higher education, we hope the panel will provide useful insights into current trends affecting early career researchers and ideas for how trainees can increase their chances of success in today’s professional landscape.

Robert Geirhos

Research Scientist, Google DeepMind

Robert Geirhos is a Research Scientist at Google DeepMind, located in Toronto. He obtained his PhD on comparing human and machine vision from the University of Tübingen and the International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems, where he worked with Felix Wichmann, Matthias Bethge and Wieland Brendel. His research has received the ELLIS PhD award and an Outstanding Paper Award at NeurIPS. Inspired by research on human visual perception, Robert aims to develop a better understanding of the hypotheses, biases and assumptions of modern machine vision systems, and to use this understanding to make them more robust, interpretable and reliable. Dr. Geirhos’ website is https://robertgeirhos.com/.

Joan Ongchoco

Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia

Joan Ongchoco is an incoming Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia and the director of the UBC Perception & Cognition Lab. Before starting her lab, she decided to pursue a postdoctoral research fellowship at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin with Martin Rolfs. Prior to this, she obtained her PhD from Yale University, where she worked primarily with Brian Scholl. Joan is interested in the ways that perception — especially what we *see* — can interact with broader mental life. This includes exploring varieties of ‘everyday hallucinations’ we experience, as well as the consequences of event boundaries (such as doorways) on perception, memory, and decision-making. Her work draws connections across multiple areas and disciplines. She is the recipient of the 2021 William James Prize awarded by the Society of Philosophy and Psychology.

Woon Ju Park

Research Scientist, University of Washington

Woon Ju Park is an incoming Assistant Professor in Psychology at Georgia Institute of Technology starting this August. She completed her PhD in Brain and Cognitive Science from the University of Rochester working with Dr. Duje Tadin. She is currently a NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence fellow and Research Scientist in Dr. Ione Fine’s lab at the University of Washington. Woon Ju is particularly interested in understanding how experience and atypical development affect sensory processing. She has studied this in diverse human populations, including children with ASD, older adults, and those with early or late-onset visual impairments. Her current research focuses on understanding the effects of early blindness on the structure and function of the brain. To learn more about Woon Ju’s academic journey and current research, please visit her website.

Jake Whritner

Human Factors Senior Scientist, Exponent

Jake Whritner earned his PhD in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, where he used human psychophysics to study 3D motion perception. His dissertation work tested the contribution of various depth and motion cues that the human visual system relies on to interact with the dynamic 3D world. At Exponent, Jake extends his expertise to practical applications, such as analyzing human factors related to motor vehicle accidents, warnings, and slip/trip and falls. He also uses mixed methods to assess user behavior to inform product design and risk assessment through surveys, interviews, and user studies.

Claudia Damiano (Moderator)

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Toronto

Claudia Damiano is a Research Associate (senior postdoctoral researcher) at the University of Toronto, working with Dirk Bernhardt-Walther. She previously completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Leuven, Belgium, working with Johan Wagemans. Broadly, her research aims to understand how visual features impact aesthetic preferences and guide attention. Her work contributes to our understanding of the relationship between human perception and the appreciation of natural environments. Claudia has served as a panelist on similar early-career panels, offering advice to Master’s and PhD students about transitioning to a postdoc position. As a moderator, she will ensure that the panel offers valuable insights and actionable advice to attendees.

Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee

Interested in joining SPC?

Current SPC members are indicated below. Terms end in May of the year shown.

Avi Aizenman (2025)

University of Giessen

Claudia Damiano (2024) Board Liaison

University of Toronto

Rebecca Hornsey (2024) Chair

University of Stirling

Akihito Maruya (2025)

State University of New York

Jessica Parker (2025)

University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Stephanie Shields (2024) Record Keeper

University of Texas at Austin

Call for Applications for Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee

Applications Are Now Open for the VSS Student-Postdoctoral Advisory Committee (SPC)

The Vision Sciences Society (VSS) is seeking applications for three vacancies on its Student-Postdoctoral Advisory Committee (SPC). Members of the SPC are graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The SPC works together and with the members of the VSS Board of Directors to enhance VSS’s responsiveness to the needs of our trainee members and early career researchers.

Service on the SPC is an excellent way to develop a track record of community service and professional skills such as team-building, networking, project design and management.

VSS seeks a diverse set of applicants, so that this committee can continue to represent young investigators at a variety of career stages, who study a variety of topics and who reside in different regions of the globe. Graduate students, even early in careers, are especially encouraged to apply.

This year we are seeking two new postdoctoral representatives and one graduate-student representative.

See https://www.visionsciences.org/spc/ for a list of current SPC members and more information.

Application Procedure

To apply, email the following materials to by March 13, 2024:

In a single PDF file, labeled YOURLASTNAME_SPC2024, include the following:

Current CV, including current institutional affiliation and contact information
Personal statement: max 1-page detailing reasons for wanting to serve on the SPC, prior experience, and aspects of your background relevant to this call for service
List of previous VSS conferences attended
Statement of intention to attend VSS 2024 and 2025 as a student/postdoc VSS member
Names and contact information (including email) of two individuals willing to support the nomination

Those who applied for an SPC slot last year are encouraged to resubmit this year if they are still a student or postdoctoral VSS member.

Applications Accepted Starting: February 14, 2024
Applications Close: March 13, 2024
NEW SPC Representatives Announced: March 27, 2024