Amanda Lauer Ph.D.
I am a native of York County, Pennsylvania, home of rolling hills, hearty PA Dutch cuisine, and Harley Davidson motorcycles. I followed in my father’s footsteps and attended college at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where I received my B.S. and M.S. in Psychology/Biopsychology. Instead of answering the call from friends with lucrative pharma jobs in the Philly area, I opted to become a poor graduate student in Bob Dooling’s Laboratory of Comparative Psychoacoustics at the University of Maryland. There I studied perceptual hearing deficits in canaries with a hereditary hearing loss and had the opportunity to learn about all manner of creatures—bugs, birds, bats, reptiles. I received my Ph.D. in Psychology/Integrative Neuroscience in 2006 and moved to Johns Hopkins to redirect my skills to study the mammalian auditory system. I have spent the last few years studying mouse models of hearing deficits using behavioral, physiological, and anatomical approaches. I am most interested in complex aspects of hearing decline (that is, more complex than threshold elevation and hair cell loss). Drs. Brad May and David Ryugo are kind enough to give me the space, resources, and guidance to chase my interests.
I live in Oella along the Patapsco River with my husband, two cats, and a rescued greyhound. In my spare time, I am a student of Haidong Kumdo (Korean sword fighting). I also enjoy gardening, renovating/repairing my house, hiking along the river, and volunteering for greening efforts in my community. I am a junky for locally produced food, and I am constantly experimenting with various veggies and fruit in my own postage stamp garden. |
