Meet Our Team

---

Lorenzo is an Assistant Professor of Hispanic Linguistics, working primarily in the fields of Second Language Acquisition, Psycholinguistics and Sociophonetics. His research focuses on the development of fluency and cognitive abilities by second-language learners and how factors such as cognition, syntactic complexity, and word order affect second-language speech development. He is the 2020 winner of Michigan's Golden Apple Award.

Nick is an Associate Professor of Hispanic Linguistics, and currently serves as the Associate Chair in the Department of Romance Languages & Literatures. His research areas include laboratory phonology, experimental phonetics and sociophonetics, focusing on Andalusian and Argentinian Spanish. He is the Principal Investigator of the "From Africa to Patagonia: Voices of Displacement" Humanities Collaboratory project.

Andries is a Professor of Linguistics, Director of the African Studies Center, and Senior Advisor for Africa to the Provost. He is also editor of Language, flagship journal of the Linguistic Society of America, and an honorary professor at the North-West University, his South African alma mater. His research areas include theoretical phonology, the time course of the production and perception of coarticulation, and Afrikaans sociophonetics.

Cassie is graduating in 2023 with a degree in Linguistics and Spanish. She is planning to attend graduate school for speech language pathology and hopes to work bilingually in English and Spanish. Currently, she is working on the linguistic analysis of whisper-voice in broadcasting.

David is graduating in 2026 with a prospective degree in Cognitive Science. Originally from Mexico, David has first-hand experience with second language acquisition. He is passionate about making knowledge in the field more accessible to all. In the future, David plans to pursue a Ph.D. in the realm of the social sciences.

Matthew is graduating in 2023 with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. In the lab, he works on linguistic analysis of the fluency of speakers in their second language following a study abroad program.

Jessica Czapla is graduating in 2022 with a degree in MCDB (Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology) and Spanish. In the future, they plan to attend medical school in order to become an oncologist. In the lab, Jessica works on studying the perceptions of speaker origin and social characteristics of three varieties of Iberian Spanish.

Natalie graduated in 2020 with a degree in Spanish and Biomolecular Science. In the future, she hopes to attend medical school. In the lab, Natalie studies linguistic profiling of Andalusian Spanish.

Mara is graduating in 2024 with a prospective degree in Biopsychology, Cognition & Neuroscience and minor in Spanish. In the future, she plans to attend medical school in order to become a Child & Adolescent psychiatrist.

Micha Fischer is a fifth-year PhD student in the statistical emphasis of the Michigan Program in Survey Methodology. In his dissertation, Micha evaluates a new method for imputation of missing data in high-dimensional data sets. Within the Collaboratory, Micha collaborates with Lorenzo, Nick, and Brady to provide statistically-sound analyses and data visualization of all empirical findings.

Amber is graduating in Fall 2020 with a BA in Spanish and Cognitive Science and a BMA in Vocal Performance. In the future, she plans to pursue a graduate degree in Linguistics and continue making music. In the lab, Amber is working on a study of post-aspiration in Andalusian Spanish, which is the subject of her honors thesis.

Claudia is graduating in 2023 with degrees in Computer Science and Cognitive Science, and plans to work in Artificial Intelligence in the future. In the lab, Claudia helps create graphs for various projects in the lab and is currently creating a tutorial for people to learn how to program in R.

Shayna is graduating in 2021 with a degree in Linguistics and Spanish. In the future, she wants the opportunity to be immersed in the Spanish language and to continue pursuing her studies in graduate school. In the lab, Shayna works on analyzing productions of trills from speakers of Buenos Aires Spanish.

Katie graduated in 2019 with degrees in both Spanish and Linguistics. In the future, she would like to continue her linguistic studies in graduate school. In the SPL, Katie helps analyze /kj/ glide in Afrikaans and Spanish bilingual speakers in Patagonia and aspiration after voiceless stops in Andalusian Spanish. She also works on the lab’s social media presence.

Elliot is set to graduate in 2025. He is pursuing a BSI in UX design with a minor in Spanish. Elliot is from Cincinnati and is new to the Speechlab team. He plans to pursue a career in UX design and computer science.

Yonghuan is graduating in 2023 with a degree in computer science (major) and linguistics (minor). In the future, he plans to attend grad school and work in the interdisciplinary areas of computer science and linguistics.

Ellie is graduating in 2022 with a Masters in Biomedical Sciences and undergraduate degrees in Cellular and Developmental Biology and Spanish. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing the guitar, and baking. In the lab, Ellie is a "Jack of all trades", working as a sociocultural analyst, editor, and curator of the Digital Archive.

Kelly is a U-M alumna ('19) with degrees in Cognitive Science and RLL. As an SPL research assistant, she currently works on lab publications, outreach, and administrative tasks, in addition to curating the STIRRS repository. She is also the coordinator of the UC San Diego Language and Development Lab.

Ellie Maly is graduating in 2021 with a BA in Psychology and Spanish. In the future, she plans to earn a Ph.D. in Clinical and/or Developmental Psychology. In the lab, Ellie works on a research project focused on linguistic profiling and accent discrimination in Andalusian Spanish.

Chris Medina is a second year student at Grand Rapids Community College double majoring in Applied Exercise Science & Public Health with a minor in Spanish. He plans on transferring to the University of Michigan this upcoming winter semester to join the graduating class of 2023.

Shao-Chi is anticipating graduating in Winter 2024 with a BA in Comparative Literature and Women’s and Gender Studies and a minor in Environment. After undergraduate he plans to pursue a PhD in CompLit.

Zoe is graduating in 2021 with a B.A. in Spanish and minors in dance and American culture. In the future, she plans to pursue a career in dance writing along with graduate work in ballet history and philosophy. In the lab, Zoe works as an editor for the written portion's of SPL's various research.

Vidhya is graduating in 2022 with a degree in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience and Spanish. In the lab, Vidhya works on a research project focused on linguistic profiling and accent discrimination in Andalusian Spanish.

Aditi is a junior in the College of LS&A double majoring in Biology, Health & Society and Spanish. In the future, she plans to apply to medical school and become a doctor. In the lab, Aditi heads the León Fluency Project and works on the data analysis tutorials for Spanish 418.

Imran is senior in the College of LSA studying Biochemistry with a minor in Spanish. In the lab, Imran works on research manuscript review to help get our papers ready for publication and studies language dominance in the Spanish-Afrikaans bilinguals of Patagonia, Argentina. In the future, Imran plans to attend medical school and help medically underserved communities.

Lucas is graduating in Fall 2022 with a BA in Spanish and a BMA in Voice Performance. Following graduation, he plans to teach English in Spain and continue on to pursue graduate studies in Spanish Linguistics. In the lab, Lucas is investigating the social functions of Seseo, Ceceo, and Distinción in Andalusian Spanish.

Alexandria is double majoring in Neuroscience and Spanish with a minor in Sociology of Health and Medicine, and she will be graduating in 2022. In the future she plans to go to medical school with the goal of becoming an oncologist. In the lab, Alexandria works on the Buenos Aires project.

Horas! I'm Juan, from Indonesia. I am part of the class of 2022, majoring in computer science and linguistics through the college of LS&A. In the future, I have plans to go to grad school possibly in cognitive science. In the lab, I worked on the online repository project and currently working on the Spanish Pupillometry Project.

Dinah is graduating in 2025 with a prospective degree in Computer Science and is currently undecided on another major or minor. They are also from Malaysia! She has always been interested in linguistics, especially since she is a bilingual speaker, and Malay is their mother tongue. They are hoping to stay in the States after graduation and settle down here.

Stepan is graduating in spring of 2022 with a dual degree in Business Administration and Spanish. He plans to be a successful leader by positively changing the world towards a brighter, cleaner, and innovative future. In the lab, Stepan works on the linguistic analysis of /ptkbdg/ and analyzes the sociocultural characteristics between Andalusia and Spain.

Claire is graduating in 2021 with majors in International Studies, Spanish and Psychology and minors in Mathematics and Education. She plans to work in the field of education in the future, possibly becoming a math teacher. In the lab, Claire is currently working on the Buenos Aires project.

Tommy Wiaduck is graduating in 2022 with a double major in Organizational Studies & Spanish. In the lab, Tommy has worked with Lorenzo collecting data from study abroad students and Nick working on perceptions of speaker origin and sociocultural characteristics Iberian Spanish varieties. After graduation, Tommy hopes to pursue his professional, personal, and creative interests abroad.

Hanzhen is graduating in 2025 with a prospective degree in Statistics and Data Science, and a minor in Math. She has a wide academic interest. She is passionate about interdisciplinary social science (sociology, cognitive science, linguistics, economics...), as well as mathematical science and quantitative analysis. In the future, Hanzhen plans to go to grad school to further her academic interests.

DOB: April 25, 2020

Adoption date: July 10, 2020

Some hobbies include standing on two feet, taking out the garbage, eating furniture, and growling at horses.

DOB: June 10, 2020

Adoption date: August 5, 2020

Some hobbies include climbing stairs, wagging her tail, receiving hugs, and chasing Toby around the house.