OUR PEOPLE
Academic Credentials
- Ph.D., Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, 2024
- M.A., Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, 2022
- B.S., Biology, Keene State College, 2017
Academic Appointments
- Lecturer, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester 2022-2024
Professional Honors
- National Eye Institute Travel Grant, Vision Science Society, 2023
- Edward Curtis Teaching Award, University of Rochester, 2021
- Barnard Fellowship, University of Rochester, 2020
Professional Affiliations
- Vision Science Society (VSS), Member
- Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), Member
- Optical Society of America (OPTICA), Member
Dr. Ashley M. Clark is a cognitive scientist who specializes in human behavioral research, focusing on high acuity vision, attention, and visually crowded environments. Her expertise in advanced head- and eye-tracking, visual psychophysics, attention, and retinal imaging techniques provides unique insights into how humans navigate a visually intricate world.
With extensive experience in both clinical and research settings, Dr. Clark excels in measuring vision characteristics and oculomotor behavior in a variety of different situations. She is proficient in human subject testing, data and statistical analysis, scientific writing and communication, experimental design, literature review and synthesis, project management, head and eye tracking, collaboration within interdisciplinary teams, and knowledge of research ethics and compliance. Ashley's expertise allows her to have valuable input on projects including driver behavior, visibility, human motor control, attention and distraction, trip-and-fall incidents, in both typical and clinical populations.
Dr. Clark earned her PhD in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester where she focused on measuring and characterizing eye movements. Some key topics of her work include investigating high acuity vision, fine fixational eye movements, perception in visually crowded scenes, and the link between individual's retinal anatomy and oculomotor behavior. She also served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Rochester, where she investigated the relationship between Myopia and fixational eye movement characteristics. She has several publications in journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Current Biology focusing on her research in attention, high acuity, and eye movements. Ashley has also been involved in teaching and mentoring at both the graduate and undergraduate level. She has designed and instructed several courses on Statistics, Perception, Neuroimaging, and Lab Safety workshops.