Rate My Professor Jorge Méndez

Jorge Méndez is an Associate Professor of Physics and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He earned his PhD from the University of Buenos Aires in 2004, with research focused on excitability and noise-induced dynamics in lasers. His academic career includes positions advancing from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he contributes to both teaching and graduate program coordination. Méndez's research specializations include nonlinear dynamics, laser physics, biophysics, neuroethology, in vivo electrophysiology, in vivo imaging, two-photon microscopy, songbirds, neuroscience, physiology, and optics. He has been awarded a Presidential Teaching Scholar Grant for Summer 2021 and participates in departmental outreach activities such as the Physics Show. In Spring 2024, during his sabbatical, Méndez presented on research contributions spanning birdsong analysis to data science applications in physics.

Méndez has published extensively, with 28 works cited over 420 times. Key publications include 'Synthesizing bird song' (2005), 'Respiratory patterns in oscine birds during normal respiration and song production' (2006), 'Experimental investigation on excitability in a laser with a saturable absorber' (2002), 'Dynamic upper vocal tract articulations during zebra finch song – acoustic effects and independence of instantaneous auditory feedback' (2025), 'Note similarities affect syntactic stability in zebra finches' (2024), 'Preparing to sing: respiratory patterns underlying motor readiness for song' (2022), 'Multifunctional bilateral muscle control of vocal output in the songbird syrinx' (2020), 'Mechanisms of Neuronal Silencing After Cortical Spreading Depression' (2016), 'Spreading Depression at Cellular Resolution' (2015), and 'Minimum Conditions for the Induction of Cortical Spreading Depression in Brain Slices' (2014). His research explores topics such as vocal tract articulations in zebra finches, respiratory dynamics in songbirds, cortical spreading depression mechanisms, and excitable behavior in lasers.