Megan Kirchgessner

Megan Kirchgessner is a Ph.D. student of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego, studying the visual cortex in Dr. Callaway's lab at the Salk Institute. She has experience in science outreach, writing and as a teaching assistant. Megan is interested in a career in research and teaching.

• BA in in Cognitive Sciences and Psychology with a Minor in Neuroscience, Rice University, Houston, Texas
• Ph.D. in Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego (in process)

At the University of California, San Diego, Megan has served as a TA in Sensory Neuroscience (PSYC102). She has also worked in UC San Diego's Neurosciences Outreach Program, where she led lessons and presented neuroscience modules to elementary through high school age students around San Diego. Megan also led review sessions for fellow undergraduate students in introductory psychology and cognitive science courses, while at Rice University.

Publications

• Kirchgessner, MA, Chuang, AZ, Patel, SS, & Sereno, AB (2015). Intact reflexive but deficient voluntary social orienting in autism spectrum disorder. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 9 (453), doi:10.3389/fnins.2015.00453
• Geng, J., Kirchgessner, M., & Schnur, T. T. (2013). The mechanism underlying lexical selection: Evidence from the picture-picture interference paradigm. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 66(2), 261-276.

Poster Presentations

• Kirchgessner, M., Mehta, N., Red, S. D., & Sereno, A. B. Intact Reflexive but Deficient Voluntary Social Orienting in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Cognitive Neuroscience Society Annual Meeting. April 2014. Boston, MA, USA.
• Kirchgessner, M., Mehta, N., Red, S. D., & Sereno, A. B. Intact Reflexive but Deficient Voluntary Social Orienting in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Rice Undergraduate Research Symposium. April 2014. Houston, TX, USA.
• Kirchgessner, M., Geng, J., & Schnur, T. T. Lexical Selection in the Picture-Picture Interference Paradigm. Rice Undergraduate Research Symposium. April 2012. Houston, TX, USA.
• Kirchgessner, M., & Schnur, T. T. Lexical Selection in the Picture-Picture Interference Paradigm. International Workshop on Language Production. July 2012. New York, NY, USA.