about
To me, science is mentorship.
I’ve been privileged to experience several wonderful scholars’ investments, and my scientific lens is as much a product of their wisdom and prompting as it is my own desire to mentor future scholars. You can read a little about where I’ve journeyed and my takeways from those seasons (in reverse-ish chronology) below!
Currently, I’m “discovering how minds and brains create language” as a post-baccalaureate research assistant in Evelina Fedorenko’s language lab (EvLab) at MIT. Here, I’ve been working with Agata Wolna, using fMRI and other techniques to explore the neural signatures of language processing, including gaining insight into the characteristics of the broader language network and how monolinguals and bilinguals differ in their production and comprehension of language.
Previously, I received my B.S. from Gordon College, where I had the pleasure of being advised by Dr. Susan Bobb, who transformed my distinct appreciations for linguistic structure and the human mind into a unified love of language in the [bilingual] brain. Dr. Peter Iltis also fostered these passions by taking me on as a research assistant working with real-time MRI and acoustic data from brass instrumentalists.
During my undergraduate years, I also worked as a neuropsychology research assistant at the Framingham Heart Study Brain Aging Program (FHS-BAP), a longitudinal investigation of neurodegenerative diseases. There, enthusiastic guidance from Julie Joyce and Emma Müller revealed to me the joy and importance of doing science with and for one’s community.