Haley O’Brien

I am an assistant professor of neuroscience at Oklahoma State University’s Center for Health Sciences. My research focuses on paleophysiology, or how unique thermoregulatory capabilities have influenced the evolution of large mammals across Cenozoic climate change. I use selective brain cooling in large mammals as a model system for generating inferences regarding the interface between an organism’s physiology and its environment over geological time. My primary data collection involves radiopaque latex injection of ungulate cranial vasculature and examination of fossil skulls for osteological correlates of said vasculature. I divide my research time between museums and the field.