Lakota Watson
PhD Program in Neuroscience, Graduate School
Email: lwatson@som.umaryland.edu
Pronouns: She/Her/They/Them
Lakota Watson (pronouns: she/her/they/them) is a 4th-year Neuroscience Ph.D. student at the School of Graduate Studies. Lakota earned their B.A. in Neuroscience and Psychology before moving to Baltimore to become a lab technician in the lab of Dr. Joe Cheer prior to their admission to the graduate school. As a disabled academic, Lakota knows firsthand the importance of uplifting the voices of persons who could potentially benefit from or be harmed by scientific research, and this guides their work in and out of the lab. Currently, Lakota works in the lab of Dr. Luana Colloca as a Ph.D. candidate studying the neurobiological effects of early life adversity on social behavior and pain perception. Outside of their lab, Lakota also serves as secretary of the Graduate Student Association and head of the Graduate Research Conference planning committee. They have also served on the UM-MIND IDEAS committee since 2021, a committee which aims to promote inclusion, diversity, equity, and anti-racism within UM-MIND and the field of neuroscience as a whole. Additionally, Lakota recently completed a one-year appointment as a TL1 Pre-Doctoral Scholar in Clinical and Translational Research. Within their time in the fellowship, they connected with Baltimore residents to discuss concerns within the local community and gain valuable feedback on their research. As senator for the School of Graduate Studies, Lakota hopes to continue being a vocal advocate for students and accessibility on this campus to address historical exclusion of marginalized and disabled individuals from academic spaces. They currently serve on the USGA Advocacy committee. In their free time, Lakota enjoys crocheting, caring for their many house plants, and hanging out with their (very large) orange cat.
