Ha N. Dong

Hi there! Welcome to my personal website, where I write about the world under the lens of an aspiring student of Science.

A few details about myself: I am a rising senior triple-majoring in Neuroscience, Mathematics, and Physics at Amherst College. I spent a few summers working as a full-time research assistant at the Meiler Lab at Vanderbilt, the Meister Lab at Caltech, and the Murthy Lab at Harvard, diving into questions of artificial and biological intelligence. During the school year, I spend most of my time at the Trapani Lab where I study the neural encoding of the startle responses in Zebrafish. Some of my published works could be found in the Publications page.

I love learning (I know, such a nerd, right?) and often easily get excited about anything that seems cool. Beyond the bench, I’m passionate about religious studies and documentary filmmaking. Feel free to check out my latest project and reach out if you’d like to collaborate.

When I’m free, I enjoy making lemon tonic coldbrew (make sure you add a few grains of pink salt to this recipe), pretending to be a movie critic, landscape photography, urban sketching, reading, and playing the cajon.

I’m a strong believer of DEI and inclusive education. I’ve been affiliated with the Amherst College’s Strategic Learning Center, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and the Biology Department DEI committee, where I advocate for accessible learning opportunities in higher education. This journey began with an initiative I launched in Vietnam a few years ago to teach Biology to students across the country for free. If you’d like to learn more, the Vanguard News (Báo Tiền Phong) published a very flattering article about my work.