Before coming to UCSC, Brad completed his postdoc in Dr. Michael Brainard’s lab at UCSF/HHMI, where he studied the cellular and molecular systems that influence birdsong learning and plasticity. Before that, he earned his Ph.D. at UCSF in Dr. Stavros Lomvardas’s lab (now at Columbia University) studying the roles of DNA modifications during olfactory system development. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from Rice University, working as an undergraduate researcher with Dr. Dan Wagner on zebrafish embryogenesis. Aside from the laboratory bench, Brad can navigate the piano pretty well and has a fondness for Bach, Schubert, and Sondheim. He is teaching his two kids how to identify birds, rocks, and trees, with only moderate success.