Summary

I am an assistant professor in the Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Department of Neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco. If you're interested in working together, please get in touch! I am recruiting at all levels -- and see here for more information about a postdoc position with me. I did my graduate work with David Freedman at The University of Chicago and my postdoctoral work with Stefano Fusi in the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience at Columbia University.

In my research, I like to think about how representational geometry supports (or not) robust decisions, generalization to novel conditions, reliable representations of multiple stimuli at once, and rapid learning. These different demands can sometimes conflict with each other (for instance, generalization to novel stimuli and reliable representations of multiple stimuli), and I am particularly interested in how the brain navigates these tradeoffs. I use a variety of tools, including: statistical analysis, pen-and-paper theory, and artificial neural networks.

Outside my research, I am interested in cooperative living, eating, and other forms of sharing resources. I also like to be outdoors gardening and backpacking or indoors reading and painting.

Related to some of these interests, I recently made a zine: A botanical companion to The Wild Iris (web, pdf), a reference companion to the book of poetry by Louise Gluck.

Pronouns: he/they
Work email: wjj (at) ucsf.edu
Personal email: wjj (at) posteo (dot) net
Github: github.com/wj2
Twitter: @wjeffjohnston