Eric Aaron

Eric Aaron works at the intersection of computational modeling and the simulation of biological phenomena, an emerging field of cognitive science he describes as cognitive biorobotics. His biorobots model biological mechanisms to test biological hypotheses.

Aaron has published six papers in leading scholarly journals and peer-reviewed conference proceedings since arriving at Colby. His diverse and broad expertise enables him to publish in different scholarly fields, which is quite unusual. In addition, he has edited an influential book and is working on an innovative textbook on computational modeling and simulation. His collaborative research projects include the GENOMICE project, which uses AI to support an interactive video game that teaches genomics concepts to students funded with a $400,000 National Institutes of Health grant. Aaron serves on the faculty advisory boards for Colby’s Center for Teaching and Learning and the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

He came to Colby in 2018 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and teaching in various visiting faculty roles. Aaron earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science at Cornell University and his A.B. in mathematics at Princeton University.