Abstract
I outline my personal journey in hippocampal research from joining the O'Keefe lab in 1991 to the present, with a focus on earlier experimental and computational investigations of spatial cognition and neural representations in rodents, with some reference to extensions to humans and to other aspects of cognition. These recollections are organized around place cells and the role of theta rhythmicity, the importance of environmental boundaries, the operation of a wider system for spatial memory and imagery, grid cells, and the neural mechanisms of navigation in humans. I conclude with some reflections on the collaborative and exciting ecosystem that supported all of these endeavors.