Honoring the Contributions of Eileen Kowler: Eye Movements as Windows to the Mind

Friday, May 16, 2025, 5:15 – 7:15 pm, Talk Room 2

Organizers: Preeti Verghese1, Marisa Carrasco2, David Melcher3 (1Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, 2New York University, 3New York University, Abu Dhabi)
Speakers: Preeti Verghese, Marisa Carrasco, Mike Landy, Barbara Anne Dosher, David Melcher, Mary Hayhoe, Rich Krauzlis, Jie Z. Wang, Jacob Feldman

Introduction: 5:15 pm

Preeti Verghese1, Marisa Carrasco2; 1Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, 2New York University

Eileen & VSS: 5:20 pm

Michael Landy, New York University

Talk 1: 5:25 pm

 “Cogito Ergo Moveo”—The role of cognition and attention in eye movements in the work of Eileen Kowler

Barbara Anne Dosher, University of California, Irvine

“I think therefore I move”, she titled one review paper (Kowler, 1996). One key strand of Eileen Kowler’s research revealed how attention and expectation engage eye movements to serve the needs of vision. Her experimental interventions expanded models of the control of eye movements beyond early models that “assume[d] that eye movements are driven by low-level sensory signals, such as retinal image position or retinal motion”.  She investigated how higher-level cognitive knowledge and goals influence behavior to optimize information acquisition by the eye. Key examples of this work include the role of attention and selection in smooth pursuit, the interaction of attention and perception in single eye movements, and the dynamics of attention used to guide sequences of eye movements. This talk considers some of these findings.

Talk 2: 5:40 pm

What visual representation guides saccades? Reflections on “Shapes, Surfaces and Saccades” (Melcher & Kowler, 1999)

David Melcher, New York University, Abu Dhabi

Back when eye tracking required an entire room full of machinery, pioneering research on the oculomotor system investigated fixational and saccadic eye movements for simple targets, like fixation points, crosses or disks. A series of studies in the 1990’s indicated that, for simple outline shapes, saccades landed near the center-of-gravity. These studies had suggested a relatively primitive representation of the visual target, prior to the linking of elements into contours and shapes. In a series of six experiments, we showed that the saccadic landing position was predicted by the center-of-area of a surface defined by the shape boundary. This finding followed a line of Eileen Kowler’s research showing that eye movements are not merely reflexive, but instead reflect complex visual and cognitive processing. As research has now progressed into the 21st century, key ideas from this 1999 paper have been expanded into studies of natural and 3D scene perception, trans-saccadic object feature prediction, ensemble processing, smooth pursuit, and grasping movements, among other topics. Still, there remain fundamental questions about how sensory and motor systems interact, and to what extent the oculomotor system reflects, and differs from, our conscious visual perceptual experience.

Talk 3: 5:55 pm

Understanding Natural Vision

Mary Hayhoe, University of Texas, Austin

At a time when much eye movement research was dominated by a stimulus driven, linear systems approach, Eileen Kowler demonstrated that eye movement control is intrinsically connected to a range of cognitive processes such as attention, memory, prediction, planning, and scene understanding. She also understood that this is a natural consequence of the fact that eye movements are embedded in ongoing actions, and argued for measuring eye movements in the context of unconstrained behavior. As the eye and body tracking technology have developed, we can measure the operation of these cognitive processes in more diverse contexts, and this has allowed a more unified view of visuo-motor control. If we assume that the job of vision is to provide information for selecting suitable actions, we can view gaze control as part of complex sequential decision processes in the service of goal-directed behavior. In natural behavior, even the simplest actions involve both long and short-term memory, evaluation of sensory and motor uncertainties and costs, and planning that takes place over time scales of seconds in the context of action sequences. Consequently, a decision theoretic context allows a more coordinated approach to understanding natural visually guided behavior.

Talk 4: 6:10 pm

Opening the window from eye movements to cognitive expectations and visual perception

Rich Krauzlis, Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute

There was a time not so long ago when eye movements were not widely appreciated as providing windows into visual cognition and perception. Instead, they were viewed mostly as motor reactions to visual “error” signals. This engineering perspective was spectacularly successful in ferreting out the basic principles for smooth pursuit and other eye movements, but it did not easily accommodate non-sensory and non-motor factors. Against this backdrop, Eileen made a series of seminal observations starting with her thesis work, showing that cognitive expectations exert strong influences on smooth pursuit eye movements. Her experimental designs were wonderfully creative and established that there is much more going on in the pursuit system than can be found slipping across the retina. Her results sparked controversy at the time, but her conclusions are now broadly accepted: smooth pursuit is guided not only by low-level visual inputs, but also by higher-level visual processes related to expectations, memory, and cognition. These conclusions now seem almost self-evident, but in fact they took a great deal of perseverance and ingenuity. Eileen should be lauded not only for the significance of her scientific accomplishments, but also for the example she provided of an independent and courageous intellect.

Talk 5: 6:25 pm

Predictive smooth pursuit eye movements reflect knowledge of Newtonian mechanics

Jie Z. Wang1, Abdul-Rahim Deeb2, Fulvio Domini3, Eileen Kowler4

1 University of Rochester, 2 John Hopkins University, 3 Brown University, 4 Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Smooth pursuit employs a variety of cues to predict the future motion of a moving target, enabling timely and accurate tracking. Since real-world motions often obey the Newtonian mechanics, an implicit understanding of these laws should be a particularly effective cue for facilitating anticipation in pursuit. In this study, we focus on understanding how 2-D smooth pursuit incorporates Newtonian mechanics to interpret and predict future motion. We examined the tracking of a “target object” whose motion path appeared to be due to a collision with a moving “launcher object”. The direction of post-collision target motion was either consistent with or deviated from the Newtonian prediction. Newtonian and non-Newtonian paths were run in separate blocks allowing observers the opportunity to predict and learn the target’s path based on the launcher’s movement. Anticipatory pursuit was found to be faster and more precise when post-collision paths conformed to predictions of Newtonian mechanics. Even when there was  ample opportunity to learn the non-Newtonian motion paths, there was evidence of a bias in the direction of the Newtonian prediction. These findings support the idea that smooth pursuit can leverage the regularities in everyday physical events to formulate predictions about future motion. These predictive capabilities of smooth pursuit result in increased compatibility with natural motions and thereby allow for more accurate and efficient tracking of real-world movements.

Talk 6: 6:40 pm

Decisions and eye movements in a dynamic naturalistic VR task (response to Kowler, 1995, personal communication)

Jacob Feldman, Rutgers University

(Joint work with Jakub Suchojad, Sam Sohn, Michelle Shlivko, and Karin Stromswold) 

One of the main goals of cognitive research, continually emphasized by Eileen Kowler, is to understand behavior in realistic, natural contexts. In this talk I’ll talk about a ubiquitous natural task that we have recently studied in virtual reality (VR): social wayfinding. Social wayfinding refers to the way people navigate through environments that contain other people, like a crowded train station. In addition to various generic motivations, like the desire to minimize time and energy expended, this task involves a number of specifically social goals, like avoiding colliding with or rudely cutting off other people. We have been studying this problem in VR, asking our subjects to navigate around both static obstacles (e.g. couches) and dynamic ones (e.g. people walking around). We have also been collecting eye movements so as to better understand how subjects handle the very complex series of decisions they need to make as they move through the environment. Broadly speaking, we find that their eye movements reflect the hierarchical nature of the task, sometimes fixating on “local” obstacles and at other times on “global” features such as the target gate. I’ll end by commenting on how this work addresses (and also fails to address) a question that Eileen posed to me many years ago.

Open Mic: 6:55 — 7:15 pm

Science across Countries and Cultures: Does Difference make a Difference?

Saturday, May 17, 2025, 12:45 – 2:30 pm EDT, Palm/Sabal/Sawgrass

Organizers: Anya Hurlbert (Newcastle University); Shin’ya Nishida (Kyoto University); Rich Krauzlis (Salk Institute); Jes Parker (University of Tennessee-Knoxville)
Moderator: Anya Hurlbert (Newcastle University)
Speakers: Yuko Yotsumoto (University of Tokyo); Reuben Rideaux (University of Sydney); Rosa Lafer-Sousa (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

This workshop looks at how vision science is done across cultures and countries, recognising and celebrating the fact that VSS is an international community. We aim to explore differences in barriers to collaboration and success, and consider the variety of directives, initiatives and biases that influence the practice of science across different institutions.  The discussion will be led by speakers from around the world, including Yuko Yotsumoto from the University of Tokyo, Reuben Rideaux from the University of Sydney, and Rosa Lafer-Sousa from University of Wisconsin-Madison.

All attendees are warmly invited. We want to hear your views on how differences between individual backgrounds, cultures, and countries influence the practice and profile of science, and how we can collectively make a stronger, more cohesive and impactful community.

Refreshments and light lunch will be available.

Open Science and Publishing

Saturday, May 17, 2025, 12:45 – 2:15 pm EDT, Banyan/Citrus

Organizers: Noah Britt (McMaster University); Victoria Jacoby, (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School); and Jes Parker (University of Tennessee-Knoxville)
Moderator: Geoffrey Boynton (University of Washington)
Speakers: Kirsten Adam (Rice University); Dennis Levi (University of California, Berkeley); Ming Meng (South China Normal University); Philipp Musfeld (University of Zurich)

The VSS-SPC invites you to a panel discussion on the role of open science in vision research and academic publishing. Invited speakers will explore the principles of open science—why it matters, how to implement it, and its impact on research transparency and reproducibility. We will also have additional speakers that will share and discuss how open science practices influence publishing and editorial processes in top peer-reviewed journals. The session will conclude with a valuable 30-minute Q&A, giving attendees the opportunity to engage directly with all our well-esteemed speakers. Join us for an insightful discussion on navigating open science, publishing high-quality research, and shaping the future of scholarly communication.

Geoffrey Boynton

Geoffrey Boynton

University of Washington

Geoffrey Boynton, is a VSS Board Member and studies visual attention, reading and prosthetic vision. After studying mathematics at U.C. San Diego and U.C. Santa Barbara, Dr. Boynton received a PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences at U.C. Santa Barbara in 1994. After a decade at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, he joined the faculty at the University of Washington. In 2019 led an effort to develop a research MRI facility at the new Center for Human Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology which he now directs. He also teaches courses on visual perception and statistics.

Kirsten Adam

Rice University

Kirsten Adam is an Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences at Rice University. Her work uses neural methods (EEG, fMRI) and behavior to characterize fundamental constraints on visual attention and working memory. Dr. Adam earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame, an M.S. in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oregon, and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Chicago. Website: https://adamlab.rice.edu/

Dennis Levi

University of California, Berkeley

Dennis M. Levi is an American Professor at the University of California, Berkeley with appointments in the Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. He received his diploma in Optometry in 1967 from the Witwatersrand School of Optometry, in Johannesburg, South Africa. His research focuses on how we see form and depth, and how these are impacted by abnormal early visual development, particularly amblyopia and strabismus. He has published more than 300 scientific papers and two books. His work has been cited almost 30,000 times and he has an h-index of 87 (Google Scholar). His research has been funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) since 1976.

Ming Meng

South China Normal University

Ming Meng earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University, completed postdoctoral training at MIT, and was a faculty member at Dartmouth College. He currently holds a Pearl River Scholar Distinguished Professorship at South China Normal University, and serves for the Board of Reviewing Editors (BRE) of eLife as well as a Consulting Editor for Visual Cognition. His lab explores the neural mechanisms underlying visual cognition and attention, both with and without visual awareness. These mechanisms are linked to activity within the broader visual processing and attentional neural networks, spanning the occipital, temporal, and parietal lobes in both hemispheres. His research sheds light on normal behavioral patterns and enhances our understanding of neurological disorders.

Philipp Musfeld

University of Zurich

Philipp Musfeld is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich. He employs behavioral, computational, and neural methods (EEG) to investigate the information exchange between visual working memory and long-term memory. Parts of his work also concern the improvement of theory development, methodologies, and scientific practice in psychological research. Dr. Musfeld earned a B.S. in Psychology at the University of Cologne, an M.S. in Psychology at the University of Bonn, and a PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Zurich.

Website: https://www.psychology.uzh.ch/en/areas/nec/allgpsy/team/postdoc/pmusfeld.html

The AI Revolution in Visual Science

Monday, May 19, 2025, 2:30 – 4:00 pm EDT, Banyan/Citrus

Organizers: Akihito Maruya, State University of New York; Amy Bucklaew, University of Rochester; and Brady Roberts, University of Chicago (VSS Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee); Shin’ya Nishida (VSS Board of Directors)
Moderator: Akihito Maruya, State University of New York
Speakers: Frank Tong, Vanderbilt University; Michael F. Bonner, Johns Hopkins University; Kohitij Kar, York University

In recent years, AI has made remarkable progress, becoming increasingly accessible and implementable even for individuals without extensive expertise in computer science. Visual AI, a subset of artificial intelligence, empowers machines to interpret and understand the visual world. Recent advances have demonstrated AI’s value in modeling the visual cortex, predicting neural responses, simulating eye-tracking behavior, and analyzing psychophysical data. As AI technology becomes widely adopted, it is critical to understand the principles of its successes as well as its challenges.

This review begins by exploring how AI has empowered visual neuroscientists to unravel aspects of visual processing that were previously beyond reach. We will also examine how the similarity between AI and human vision can be quantified. While AI models can mimic human visual processing to some extent, they often produce percepts that deviate significantly from human perception, such as susceptibility to hallucinations or inversion effects. Understanding these differences raises an intriguing question: how can visual scientists help guide AI to align more closely with human visual perception? We will delve into the key differences between AI and human vision, uncover the reasons for these disparities—such as biases in training data and fundamental computational differences—and explore strategies to make AI systems emulate human visual processing more effectively.

Finally, while AI is a rapidly evolving technology with the potential to revolutionize research and innovation, it also brings substantial ethical challenges. For instance, when tools like ChatGPT generate code, the output is often built upon the contributions of others, yet those contributions may not be adequately recognized. This underscores the importance of addressing issues like training data bias, privacy concerns, and the steep learning curve required to grasp foundational AI principles. In this review, we will highlight these challenges and provide insights into fostering a deeper understanding of AI ethics, emphasizing the responsibility of integrating AI into scientific workflows thoughtfully and equitably.

Akihito Maruya

State University of New York

Akihito Maruya is a PhD student with Qasim Zaidi at the SUNY Graduate Center for Vision Research in NYC and Chair of the VSS Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee. 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.


Frank Tong

Vanderbilt University

Frank Tong is a Centennial Professor of Psychology and Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Vanderbilt University. He completed his PhD studies at Harvard University (1995-1999) working with Ken Nakayama and Nancy Kanwisher. His early research capitalized on functional MRI to investigate the neural bases of face processing and visual awareness, followed by the development of novel techniques to decode feature-selective responses from the human visual cortex to characterize their role in attentional selection and visual working memory. In recent years, he has been captivated by noteworthy similarities and striking divergences between the human visual system and current deep neural network models. His research has been recognized by YIA awards from the Vision Sciences Society, Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences. Frank has previously served on the VSS Board of Directors and currently serves on the NIH Neuroscience of Basic Visual Processes study section panel.

Michael F. Bonner

Johns Hopkins University

Mick Bonner is an Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science at Johns Hopkins University, where he leads the Cognitive Neuroscience & Deep Learning Group. His work uses computational methods, including deep neural networks and advanced statistical techniques, in combination with neuroimaging and behavioral studies to understand the visual system of the human brain. The goal of this work is to identify the statistical principles that govern the representations of visual cortex and to build theoretically grounded models of how these representations are computed from sensory inputs. Before joining the Cognitive Science Department at Johns Hopkins, Mick completed a PhD in Neuroscience and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kohitij Kar

York University

Kohitij Kar is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biology in the Faculty of Science at York University, Toronto, Canada. Dr. Kar is also a Canada Research Chair in Visual Neuroscience. Dr. Kar was named one of the Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research in 2022. Prior to this, Dr. Kar was a Research Scientist at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, working in the lab of Dr. James DiCarlo. Before joining the DiCarlo Lab, he completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Behavioral and Neural Sciences at Rutgers University in New Jersey (PhD advisor: Bart Krekelberg) in 2015. Dr. Kar’s research lies at the intersection of neurophysiological investigations of visual intelligence in non-human primates and artificial intelligence systems. His work has been published in top-tier neuroscience journals like Science, Nature Neuroscience, and Neuron and competitive machine learning conferences like NeurIPS and ICLR. Dr. Kar has also recently become an SFARI investigator after receiving a Simons Foundation grant to develop a non-human primate model of autism.

Navigating International Research Funding

Sunday, May 18, 2025, 1:00 – 2:00 pm, Banyan/Citrus

Organizers: MiYoung Kwon (VSS Board of Directors) and Paola Binda (VSS Board of Directors)
Moderator: Paola Binda, University of Pisa
Discussants: Constantin Rothkopf, Technical University of Darmstadt; Tessa Dekker, University College London; Michael Herzog, EPFL – École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne; Frans Verstraten, The University of Sydney.


Exploring Funding Landscapes Across Europe, the UK, Switzerland and Australia

This workshop offers an opportunity to hear how researchers around the world navigate research funding opportunities through country-specific and international mechanisms. The comparison of different systems will provide context and highlight the diversity of funding environments. With a focus on major funding bodies in Europe, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Australia, the session will provide strategic insights into securing competitive research grants and fostering global research collaborations.

Paola Binda

University of Pisa

Paola Binda is associate professor at the University of Pisa, Italy. She trained in Milano (PhD) and Seattle (post-doc), in the fields of active vision and plasticity. Her research is mainly funded by the European Research Council (ERC Starting grant “Pupiltraits”, 2019-2024; ERC Consolidator grant “PredActive”, ongoing). As a trainee, she benefited from a Marie Sklodowska Curie “Global Fellowship”; as faculty, she is member of a recently funded Marie Sklodowska Curie “Doctoral Network” supporting coordinated PhD programs across multiple European institutions.

Constantin Rothkopf

Technical University of Darmstadt

Constantin Rothkopf is director of the Center for Cognitive Science and Professor at the Institute of Psychology with a secondary appointment in the Computer Science Department at the Technical University of Darmstadt. He did a joint PhD in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Computer Science at the University of Rochester with Mary Hayhoe and Dana Ballard. His research investigates how vision, cognition, and action are intertwined in naturalistic, extended sequential visuomotor behavior, including tasks such as food preparation and navigation. His research methods involve both behavioral studies, often tracking body and eye movements, and computational modeling, often using probabilistic control models, including developing inverse models in machine learning. His work has been published in journals like Nature Communications and PNAS and machine learning conferences like NeurIPS, and AAAI. He has acquired multiple grants including an ERC Consolidator Grant for his project “ACTOR”.

Tessa Dekker

University College London

Tessa Dekker is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist studying how we learn to see. She leads the Child Vision Lab at University College London (UCL) in the UK, based across the Institute of Ophthalmology and Experimental Psychology. Their research investigates how the developing and adapting brain processes and uses visual information, and how this is affected by eye disease and emerging sight-restoring treatments. Tessa completed her PhD in 2012 at Birkbeck, University of London, followed by a postdoc at UCL with Marko Nardini. From 2016, she has held fellowships from the UK Research and Innovation Economic and Social Research Council, Moorfields Eye Charity, and currently the Wellcome Trust, as well as other industry and charity funding. Since 2020, she is an Associate Professor at UCL, working with a fantastic team that you can meet at https://childvisionlab.co.uk. One of her Departmental roles is to support early career researchers in fund-raising in the UK.

Michael Herzog

EPFL – École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Michael Herzog studied Mathematics (1992), Biology (1992), and Philosophy (1993) at the Universities of Erlangen, Tübingen, and at MIT. In 1996, he earned a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Tübingen. He was a post-doc at Caltech (1998-1999) and a senior researcher at the University of Bremen (1999-2004). Since 2004, he is the head of the Laboratory of Psychophysics at the EPFL in Switzerland hosting its own EEG, TMS, eye tracking, behavioral and computer simulation platforms.


Frans Verstraten

The University of Sydney

Frans Verstraten is the current McCaughey Chair of Psychology at the University of Sydney. A VSS board member from 2010-2015 and VSS president in 2013-2014. He studied Experimental Psychology at the Radboud University in Nijmegen and obtained his PhD from Utrecht University (1994). After positions in Canada (McGill, UToronto), USA (Harvard) and Japan (ATR), he became a full professor at Utrecht University in 2000 until his departure to Sydney in 2012. He is one of the editors-in-chief of the journals Perception and iPerception and has successfully written several grants, where the Pioneer Grant (about 2 million US$) by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research was the most prestigious. He has served as a member of grant funding committees in several countries.

Board of Directors

About the Board of Directors

The VSS Board of Directors consists of 9 individuals drawn from our scientific faculty members (regular members), who are ultimately responsible for crafting the scientific programming of the Annual Meeting, implementing and monitoring VSS policies, overseeing our budget, and associated events (workshops, public outreach, trainee-centered educational and career development events) that serve the needs of the VSS membership. They must do so in a fiscally, scientifically, and ethically responsible manner. Among other duties, Board members also serve on sub-committees that oversee selection and awarding of travel grants, satellite events, community outreach, workshops, graphic competitions, and Awards given at the Conference.

Board members are elected in pairs, with scientific expertise and vision science community involvement among the many criteria weighted for selection in any given year. Individual terms last 4-5 years.

Importantly, one of the two fourth-year members on the Board is asked to serve as President of VSS for one year, with the other fourth-year member serving as Vice President. The President also serves a fifth year as Past President for continuity, so that the Board always has 9 members.

Board members may not give talks at the meeting or participate in symposia during their service (although members of their lab may do so). In addition, Board members cannot submit nominations or letters of support for VSS Awards. 

The Board meets monthly on zoom and twice per year in person – once during the Annual Meeting and once in January. Board members’ travel costs and accommodations for the January Board meeting, and accommodations and registration for the annual meeting are paid by VSS although Board members may decline this reimbursement if they prefer.

Also see Board of Directors Election.

2025 Board of Directors

Krystel Huxlin

Krystel Huxlin, President

University of RochesterWebsite – Term ends May 2026

Krystel Huxlin is the James V. Aquavella Professor of Ophthalmology in the Flaum Eye Institute at the University of Rochester, NY, USA. She serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Visual Science and co-Director of its Training program, as well as an Ombudsperson for Graduate Students, Postdoctoral Appointees, and Preparatory Program Trainees in the School of Medicine & Dentistry.

Krystel earned her bachelor’s of medical science (1991) and PhD in neuroscience (1994) at the University of Sydney, Australia. As a postdoc, she studied the perceptual consequences of cortical damage in cats, primates and humans first with William Merigan, then Tatiana Pasternak, before joining the Ophthalmology faculty at the University of Rochester in 1999. Her work since then has sought to understand how perception can be restored after damage to the adult visual system. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and holds 12 patents, many of them related to the development of LIRIC, a novel, non-surgical paradigm for laser refractive correction.

Most of her longitudinal research is focused on understanding neuroplasticity in the cortically-damaged, adult visual system, with an eye towards vision restoration. This collaborative body of work involves applying a range of approaches, including psychophysics, structural and functional imaging, electrophysiology, electrical brain stimulation and anatomical studies in both humans and animal models. Krystel was the founder and inaugural President of the Rochester Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. She is an elected Fellow of Optica and a Silver Fellow of ARVO. Finally, in additional to her service as a reviewer for granting bodies world-wide, she serves on the Board of Reviewing Editors at eLife and the Journal of Vision.

Shin'ya Nishida

Shin’ya Nishida, Vice President

Kyoto University Website – Term ends May 2025

Shin’ya Nishida is a Professor at the Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Japan, and Visiting Researcher at NTT Communication Science Laboratories, Japan. He received B.A, M.A., and Ph.D in Psychology from Kyoto University.

Shin’ya’s research focuses on visual motion perception, material perception, time perception, haptics, and multisensory integration. He is also interested in leveraging vision science for innovation of media technologies. He was/is on the editorial boards of Journal of Vision (from 2007), Vision Research (from 2008 to 2017), and Multisensory Research (from 2017). He was President of Vision Society of Japan (from 2014 to 2018), and is Member of Science Council of Japan (from 2017). He served as Rank Prize Lecturer at European Conference on Visual Perception 2017.

Michael Landy

Michael Landy, President Elect

New York UniversityWebsite – Term ends May 2027

Michael Landy is a Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University. He obtained the Ph.D. degree in Computer and Communication Sciences from the University of Michigan in 1981, working with John Holland. He then worked for George Sperling at NYU for three years as both programmer and postdoc, before becoming faculty in 1984.

At NYU, Michael has served as Coordinator of the Ph.D. Program in Cognition & Perception off and on for over 20 years. He has been a senior editor for Vision Research and on the editorial boards of Visual Neuroscience, Multisensory Research and, currently, Journal of Vision.

He is an author of some 120+ papers and chapters, and co-editor of 3 edited collections. He has worked in a wide variety of research areas including sensory cue integration (including multisensory work involving vision, touch, proprioception and audition), perception of depth, surface material properties and texture, perceptual decision-making and visual control of movement (reaching and saccades). Much of this work involves empirical behavioral work coupled with computational models, including both ideal-observer, Bayesian models as well as sub-optimal heuristic models of human performance. Recent theoretical contributions include new models of reaction time in discrimination experiments and of cortical adaptation.

Geoffrey Boynton

Geoffrey Boynton, Past President

University of WashingtonWebsite – Term ends May 2025

Geoff Boynton is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington and directs the new Human Neuroimaging Center at UW’s College of Arts and Sciences. He has maintained an ongoing interest on the effects of visual attention on behavior and fMRI signals in the human visual cortex.

Other research interests include ensemble encoding, reading and dyslexia, the statistical properties of the fMRI signal, and work on computational models for visual prosthetics.

Dr. Boynton received a PhD in Cognitive Science in 1994 under the supervision of John Foley at U.C. Santa Barbara after obtaining a degree in Mathematics at U.C. San Diego (1987) and a Master’s degree (1989) in Mathematics at U.C. Santa Barbara. He then worked as a postdoc with Dr. David Heeger at Stanford University where he did his early work with fMRI. In 1998 he took a position as a faculty member in Systems Neuroscience at the Salk Institute in La Jolla until 2008 when he joined Ione Fine and Scott Murray to form the venerable Vision and Cognition group in the Psychology Department at the University of Washington.

Dr. Boynton served as an editor for Vision Research from 2005 – 2015, serves an editor for the Journal of Vision from 2007 to the present, and has served as a permanent and adhoc member of various NIH study sections, including CVP. He has a deep interest in mentorship and teaching, and has been a co-organizer of the Cold Spring Harbor summer course on Computational Neuroscience: Vision since 2008. In 2009 he was elected as a member of the Society for Experimental Psychologists.

He has been a regular member of VSS from the beginning and has served as an abstract reviewer, Young Investigator Award panel member, Poster award panel member, and Travel Award panel member.

Anya Hurlbert

Anya Hurlbert, Treasurer

Newcastle UniversityWebsite – Term ends May 2026

Anya Hurlbert is Professor of Visual Neuroscience and Dean of Advancement at Newcastle University in England. She studied Physics as an undergraduate at Princeton University and Physiology for an MA at Cambridge University as a Marshall Scholar.

There she was inspired by the traditional and Marrian approaches to vision and subsequently took up computational vision for her PhD research with Tommy Poggio in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. She earned an MD from Harvard Medical School, before doing postdoctoral research as a Wellcome Trust Vision Research Fellow at Oxford University. In 1991, she moved to Newcastle University, where she co-founded the Institute of Neuroscience in 2003, serving as its co-Director until 2014.

Hurlbert’s research focuses on colour perception and its role in visual cognition, with an emphasis on understanding colour constancy through computational models and psychophysics, and the links between colour, illumination and affect. Her research interests in applied areas include digital image processing and lighting, machine learning for biomedical image analysis, and the interplay between vision science and art. She actively promotes public engagement with science, through multiple programmes and exhibitions, and devised an interactive installation at the National Gallery, London, for its 2014 summer exhibition Making Colour.

Hurlbert has substantial experience of conference organising, including stand-alone colour vision conferences, and symposia within ECVP, the British Association Annual Festival of Science, and other conferences. She has regularly attended VSS since its inception, acted as abstract reviewer since 2010, and served twice on the Young Scientist Award Committee. She is former Chair of the Colour Group (GB), member of the Visiting Committee for Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT and Scientist Trustee of the National Gallery (London), and currently an editorial board member of Current Biology and Journal of Vision and member of the Scientific Consultative Group of the National Gallery and the Optoelectronics Committee of the Rank Prize Funds.

Rich Krauzlis

Richard Krauzlis, Director

Adjunct Professor, Salk Institute for Biological StudiesWebsite – Term ends May 2027

Rich Krauzlis is a Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research and Chief of the section on Eye Movements and Visual Selection in the National Eye Institute at NIH. Rich is originally from New Jersey (exit 13) and earned his undergraduate degree in Biology from Princeton University and doctorate in Neuroscience from UC San Francisco working with Steve Lisberger.

Rich also holds a Joint Appointment in the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and an Adjunct Professor position at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. Rich’s science has focused on eye movements and visual attention, and includes electrophysiological studies of the superior colliculus, cerebellum, basal ganglia and cerebral cortex, psychophysical studies of visual motion perception and visual attention, and computational modeling. His recent work in monkeys and mice has examined the interactions between cortical and subcortical brain regions during visual selective attention and perceptual decision-making.

After postdoctoral training with Fred Miles and Bob Wurtz at the National Eye Institute, he joined the faculty of the Salk Institute in 1997 and returned to the National Eye Institute in 2011.

Rich currently serves on the Editorial Boards for Journal of Vision and Annual Review of Vision Science, is a co-chair for the Gordon Research Conference on Eye Movements, and a member of the VSS Abstract Review Committee; he was also a Senior Editor for Vision Research. He has served on numerous grant review panels, was a member of the Admissions Committee and Executive Committee in the UCSD Neurosciences Department, served as a chair of the International Workshop on Visual Attention, and has authored several review articles on eye movements and visual attention, including the chapter ‘Eye Movements’ in the graduate textbook Fundamental Neuroscience. His work has been recognized through several awards, including McKnight Scholar and Technological Innovation awards.

Martin Rolfs

Martin Rolfs, Director

Humboldt-Universität zu BerlinWebsite – Term ends May 2027

Martin Rolfs heads the Active Perception and Cognition lab at the Department of Psychology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Martin’s lab assesses the architecture and plasticity of processes in active vision and cognition, using a broad range of methods including eye tracking, motion tracking, psychophysics, computational modeling, EEG, studies of clinical populations and, most recently, robotics.

The research program builds on the premise that any deep understanding of perception and cognition requires studying their key processes in observers that actively behave, exploring and manipulating their environment.

After a Diploma in psychology, Martin completed his doctorate at the University of Potsdam in 2007 with highest distinction (summa cum laude). For his dissertation on the generation of microscopic eye movements, Martin received the Heinz Heckhausen Award of the German Psychological Society. He spent formative postdoc years at Université Paris Descartes, New York University and Aix-Marseille Université, investigating links between eye movements, attention, and perception.

In 2012, he established an Emmy Noether junior research group, working on attention in active vision at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin. In 2018, he was appointed Heisenberg professorship for Experimental Psychology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, where he is now a full professor. He has since also served as an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Vision. Martin is a founding member of Berlin’s Cluster of Excellence Science of Intelligence, a transdisciplinary research center investigating the principles underlying all forms of intelligence. His research is funded by the German Research foundation (DFG) and a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant, studying how visual action shapes active vision.

Paola Binda

Paola Binda, Director

University of PisaWebsite – Term ends May 2028

Following Paola Binda’s graduation from San Raffaele University of Milano, Italy in 2010 (advisor: M. Concetta Morrone), Paola joined the VisCog laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle as postdoctoral fellow to work with Geoff Boynton, Scott Murray, and Ione Fine.

Paola was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship and returned to Italy in 2013, where she joined the University of Pisa as assistant professor of physiology (she became associate professor in 2019). Paola’s lab is primarily funded by a ERC (European Research Council) Starting grant. They study how visual processing is shaped by multimodal context, which includes upcoming actions and predictions based on stimulus history. Their studies involve human volunteers, with a focus on neurodiversity. They use a combination of ultra-high field functional Magnetic Resonance imaging, psychophysics, eye-tracking and pupillometry.

MiYoung Kwon

MiYoung Kwon, Director

Northeastern UniversityWebsite – Term ends May 2028

MiYoung Kwon currently serves as an Assistant Professor of the Department of Psychology at Northeastern University (Kwon Lab). She earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive/Biological Psychology with a minor in Statistics from the University of Minnesota in 2010.

After completing her Ph.D, MiYoung joined the Computational and Functional Vision Lab at the University of Southern California as a postdoctoral research associate. Following her time at USC, MiYoung completed another two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School. Between 2014 and 2020, MiYoung served on the faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Through a multidisciplinary approach that combines psychophysics, computational modeling, eye tracking, brain and retinal imaging techniques, MiYoung’s research is dedicated to unraveling how the human visual system deals with sensory impairments. To this end, her work primarily focuses on understanding statistical properties of the visual world under degraded viewing conditions, the cortical representation of degraded visual information, and the subsequent modifications in perceptual and cognitive processing. Her past and ongoing research projects cover a broad spectrum of topics, including brain adaptability following central vision loss, information processing in peripheral vision, perceptual and cortical changes induced by prolonged contrast deprivation, and binocular interactions in amblyopic vision. Recent efforts have also delved into understanding the impact of ganglion cell pathology on spatial vision and exploring the effects of degraded visual inputs on oculomotor strategies. Therefore, her interdisciplinary research program integrates state-of-the-art research techniques and theoretical frameworks to bridge the gap between fundamental vision science and clinical applications. Her research has been funded by the NIH/National Eye Institute, the Eye-Sight Foundation of Alabama, and Research to Prevent Blindness.

MiYoung frequently serves on the NIH Scientific Review Panel. Furthermore, she has been an active member of VSS, serving on the Abstract Review Committee, Travel Awards Review Committee, and the Meet-the-Professors panel.

2024 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; Kim Meier, University of Houston; 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

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/.

Kim Meier

Kim Meier

Assistant Professor, College of Optometry, University of Houston

Kim Meier spent a few years at community college trying out a few things before transferring to Simon Fraser University where she discovered research is fun, and obtained a BA in cognitive science and psychology. She then attended the University of British Columbia where she earned a PhD, and did a postdoc at the University of Washington. Now, she is Assistant Professor in the College of Optometry at the University of Houston. Overall, her work aims to understand how the visual parts of the brain typically develop, how this development is impacted when a person has prolonged atypical visual experience during childhood, and how perceptual abilities change as a function of treatment success. Her research tools include psychophysics, EEG, MRI, and eye-tracking. 

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.

2024 US Funding Workshop

Sunday, May 19, 2024, 1:00 – 2:00 pm, Banyan/Citrus

Moderator: Geoffrey Boynton, University of Washington
Discussants: Simon Fischer-Baum, National Science Foundation (NSF); Cheri Wiggs, National Eye Institute (NEI); and Ed Clayton, National Eye Institute (NEI) – Training Division

You have a great research idea, but you need money to make it happen. You need to write a grant. This workshop will address various funding mechanisms for vision research. Our panelists will discuss their organization’s interests and priorities, and give insight into the inner workings of their extramural research programs. There will be time for your questions.

Geoffrey Boynton

University of Washington

Geoffrey Boynton, is a VSS Board Member and studies visual attention, reading and prosthetic vision. After studying mathematics at U.C. San Diego and U.C. Santa Barbara, Dr. Boynton received a PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences at U.C. Santa Barbara in 1994. After a decade at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, he joined the faculty at the University of Washington. In 2019 led an effort to develop a research MRI facility at the new Center for Human Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology which he now directs. He also teaches courses on visual perception and statistics.

Simon Fischer-Baum

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Simon Fischer-Baum is a rotating Program Director for the Perception, Action, and Cognition Program at the National Science Foundation and an Associate Professor of Psychological Sciences at Rice University. His portfolio at the NSF includes PAC, Computational Cognition, and cross-directorate neuroscience programs, and his own  research focuses on the cognitive and neural underpinnings of our ability to read and write, across different populations and writing systems.

Cheri Wiggs

National Eye Institute (NEI)

Cheri Wiggs, Ph.D., serves as a Program Director at the National Eye Institute (of the National Institutes of Health). She oversees extramural funding through three programs — Perception & Psychophysics, Myopia & Refractive Errors, and Low Vision & Blindness Rehabilitation. She received her PhD from Georgetown University in 1991 and came to the NIH as a researcher in the Laboratory of Brain and Cognition. She made her jump to the administrative side of science in 1998 as a Scientific Review Officer. She currently represents the NEI on several trans-NIH coordinating committees (including BRAIN, Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, Medical Rehabilitation Research) and was appointed to the NEI Director’s Audacious Goals Initiative Working Group.

Dr. Ed Clayton

Ed Clayton

National Eye Institute (NEI) – Training Division

Dr. Ed Clayton joined the National Eye Institute in July 2023 as a Program Director in the Training Division. He received his BS in Psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill and his PhD in Psychobiology from the University of Virginia. After a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied the role of the locus coeruleus in decision making, he joined the Center for Scientific Review’s Intern Program.  After a year he was hired as a Scientific Review Officer in the Integrative, Functional, and Cognitive Neuroscience Integrated Review Group. During his time there, he was the SRO for the Auditory System and Neurobiology of Motivated Behaviors study sections. In 2012, Ed moved on to take the position of Director of Scientific Review at Autism Speaks. In 2013 he was promoted to Senior Director of Strategic Funding and Grants Administration where he oversaw the science funding program, as well as managed the  predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowship programs. In 2015 Ed joined the Princeton Neuroscience Institute as their Director of Training and Professional Development. In this position Ed managed the Institute’s T32 program, led NSF and NIH grant workshops, started a monthly alternative career seminar series, served on the admissions committee, and Chaired both the Curriculum and Climate and Inclusion Committees. He also oversaw an NSF REU summer internship program, focused on providing research experiences to students from small colleges and from historically underrepresented groups.

2023 US Funding Workshop

Sunday, May 21, 2023, 1:00 – 2:00 pm, Jasmine/Palm

Moderator: Geoffrey Boynton, University of Washington
Discussants: Todd Horowitz, National Cancer Institute; Tatiana Pasternak, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH); Betty Tuller, National Science Foundation; and Cheri Wiggs, National Eye Institute (NIH)

You have a great research idea, but you need money to make it happen. You need to write a grant. This workshop will address various funding mechanisms for vision research. Our panelists will discuss their organization’s interests and priorities, and give insight into the inner workings of their extramural research programs. There will be time for your questions.

Todd Horowitz

National Eye Institute (NIH)

Todd Horowitz, is a Program Director in the Behavioral Research Program’s (BRP) Basic Biobehavioral and Psychological Sciences Branch (BBPSB), located in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Horowitz earned his doctorate in Cognitive Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley in 1995. Prior to joining NCI, he was Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and Associate Director of the Visual Attention Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed research papers in vision science and cognitive psychology. His research interests include attention, perception, medical image interpretation, cancer-related cognitive impairments, sleep, and circadian rhythms.

Tatiana Pasternak

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH)

Tatiana Pasternak, is a Scientific Review Officer at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS). Since she joined NINDS in 2020, she has been focused on overseeing the review of applications submitted to the BRAIN Initiative, the funding mechanism supported by 10 NIH institutes, including the National Eye Institute. Prior to joining NINDS, she was a tenured Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Rochester with an active research program focused on cortical circuits underlying visual perception and working memory in the primate brain. Throughout her academic career, she has participated in the NIH and NSF peer review, serving as a permanent member on several NIH study sections as well as on many other review panels. As one of the founding members of the Vision Science Society, she has served for several years on its Board of Directors and for two years as its President.

Betty Tuller

National Science Foundation

Betty Tuller, serves as a Director of the Perception, Action and Cognition Program at the National Science Foundation, where she also serves on the management team for programs in Computational Cognition, the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier, the NSF AI Institutes, Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Data Science, and Collaborative Research in Cognitive Neuroscience. Dr. Tuller earned her doctorate from the University of Connecticut in 1980, then completed post-doctoral work at Cornell University Medical Center and NYU Medical Center. Prior to joining NSF, she was Professor of Complex Systems and Brain Sciences and Professor of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University.

Cheri Wiggs

National Eye Institute (NIH)

Cheri Wiggs, Ph.D., serves as a Program Director at the National Eye Institute (of the National Institutes of Health). She oversees extramural funding through three programs — Perception & Psychophysics, Myopia & Refractive Errors, and Low Vision & Blindness Rehabilitation. She received her PhD from Georgetown University in 1991 and came to the NIH as a researcher in the Laboratory of Brain and Cognition. She made her jump to the administrative side of science in 1998 as a Scientific Review Officer. She currently represents the NEI on several trans-NIH coordinating committees (including BRAIN, Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, Medical Rehabilitation Research) and was appointed to the NEI Director’s Audacious Goals Initiative Working Group.

Geoffrey Boynton

University of Washington

Geoffrey Boynton, is a VSS Board Member and studies visual attention, reading and prosthetic vision. After studying mathematics at U.C. San Diego and U.C. Santa Barbara, Dr. Boynton received a PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences at U.C. Santa Barbara in 1994. After a decade at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, he joined the faculty at the University of Washington. In 2019 led an effort to develop a research MRI facility at the new Center for Human Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology which he now directs. He also teaches courses on visual perception and statistics.

Vision Sciences Society