A native of Virginia, Dr. Coates received her undergraduate degree in biology from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1995, her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Pennsylvania State University in 2001, and completed postdoctoral work at the University of Kentucky’s Center for Microelectrode Technology. She is presently a private research consultant who specializes in issues surrounding neural interface construction. Her Company (TC Design Group, LLC) is the sponsor of Neuropunk.Org (http://www.neuropunk.org), a nonprofit educational project dedicated to the free dissemination of quality information relating to neural engineering. When not building Cyborgs she enjoys exploring planet Earth, SCUBA diving, and pursuing her interests in music and art.