About Me
I am a Professor in the Department of Linguistics and the Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS), at Rutgers University I completed my Ph.D. in Linguistics at Northwestern University in 2007, with a specialization in Cognitive Science. I joined the Rutgers Linguistics faculty in 2011. Before that, I had a RuCCS Cognitive Science Fellowship and an NIH NRSA post-doctoral fellowship in Psychology.
My pronouns are she/her/hers.
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My areas of expertise are in language acquisition and psycholinguistics, with a focus on how we acquire, represent, and process linguistic meaning, and how (and whether) the ability to do so changes over the course of development. In my experimental research, I gather empirical data that informs us about how children acquire the meaning of words, how children and adults interpret sentences that involve abstract syntax-semantic operations, and how the grammar interacts with other factors such as the discourse context and processing. I begin with formal linguistic theory to generate my research questions, and then use a variety of traditional and innovative methodologies to collect behavioral data that provide the answers and in turn shape our theories.
My main topics of investigation in semantics, pragmatics, syntax-semantics, and cognition include word learning (primarily of adjectives and verbs), gradability and vagueness in adjectives and nominals, comparative constructions, numerals, expressions of quantification and measurement, verb phrase ellipsis, and the contribution of prosody to meaning.
I am passionate about weaving together mentoring, advising, and coaching in my approach to professional development and leadership. I’ve completed the coaching curriculum and the Leadership Experience through the Co-Active Training Institute and attended the HERS Leadership Institute for women in higher education. I have coordinated the popular Five-Minute Linguist event for the Linguistic Society of America for the last few years.
Parallel to my research, I am actively engaged in advocacy work within the field and in public outreach and media appearances to promote awareness and understanding about language, diversity and inclusivity, and the connection between language, gender dynamics, and social justice.
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I have received the following Awards and Grants.
Research, Teaching, and Service Awards
School of Arts and Sciences Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Education, Associate Professor level. 2021. Read more here.
Faculty Mentor Award, Rutgers University First-year Interest Group Seminars (FIGS) Program. 2021
PI, NSF Grant (2021-2024). “Context dependence across categories: Bridging developmental, experimental, and theoretical perspectives.” (Collaborative grant with Athulya Aravind, MIT). NSF award no. BCS-2016963/2016895 Amount: $266,853
Linguistic Service Award, Linguistic Society of America. 2019. For our organization of the COSWL Pop-Up Mentoring Program (PUMP) (shared with, clockwise from top left: Melissa Baese-Berk, Paola Cepeda, Hadas Kotek, me, Jessica Rett, and Ivona Kucerova). Read more here.
PI, NSF Grant (2019-2021): Doctoral Dissertation Research: “Linguistic cues and speaker goals in the question/answer exchange” (Morgan Moyer, Co-PI). NSF award no. BCS-1918068. Amount: $12,332
Early Career Award, Linguistic Society of America. 2018. Read more here.
PI, NSF Grant (2016-2017): “Support for the 2016 North American Summer School on Logic, Language, and Information (NASSLLI); July, 2016 – New Brunswick, New Jersey.” (Ernest Lepore, Mary Rigdon, Co-PIs). NSF award no. 1556428. Amount: $44,119Best Paper Written by an Untenured Scientist awarded by Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics for “Collectivity, distributivity, and the interpretation of plural numerical expressions in child and adult language,” published in Issue 20.4. 2013
Linguistic Service Award, Linguistic Society of America. 2007. Read more here.
Fun Awards from the Linguistics Undergraduates
2023 Linguistics Faculty Superlative Award: Most Likely to Bring the Snacks (but always have a fruit and gluten free option)! Voted on by our UnderLINGs (undergraduate linguistics students).
2022 Linguistics Faculty Superlative Award: Most Likely to Respond to Your Email before You Even Write It! Voted on by our UnderLINGs (undergraduate linguistics students).
2021 Linguistics Faculty Superlative Award: Most Quarantine-Resilient Exercise Routine. Voted on by our UnderLINGs (undergraduate linguistics students).
2020 Linguistics Faculty Superlative Award: Most Likely to Secretly be Superwoman (second option: Most Skilled Baker). Voted on by our UnderLINGs (undergraduate linguistics students).
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I have been awarded the following fellowships.
Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence, Rutgers University. 2017
NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Post-Doctoral Fellowship. 2008-2011
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University. 2007-2008
Presidential Fellowship, The Graduate School, Northwestern University. 2005-2007
Bernard and Julia Bloch Memorial Fellowship, Linguistic Society of America. 2003-2005
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My research, lab, and/or I have been featured in the following media outlets. In addition, I perform consulting and outreach work with a number of major organizations on inclusive language.
Contact me via email if you are interested in organizing a consulting session or interview.
November, 2023
Interviewed and quoted in Is it sexist to call a female employee a b****? That depends, says De Niro judge and jury. (by Bevan Hurley) The Independent. November 16.
January, 2023
Interviewed and quoted in Please don’t call my cervix incompetent. (by Rachel R. Gross) The Atlantic. January 25.
September, 2022
Interviewed and quoted in The language we use to talk about pregnancy and abortion is changing. But not everyone welcomes the shift. (by Harmeet Kaur) CNN. September 4.
June, 2022
Interviewed and quoted in Why female entrepreneurs welcome the end of the girlboss era—once and for all. (by Maggie McGrath and Alexandra Sternlicht). Forbes. June 28.
April, 2022
Interviewed and quoted in The Twitter account that collects awkward, amusing writing. (by Naaman Zhou) The New Yorker 4/19/22
Interviewed and quoted in ‘Goblin mode’ is becoming part of people’s everyday vocabulary. Language and meme experts share why. (by Kalhan Rosenblatt) NBC News 4/2/22
January, 2022
Collaborative research on persistent gender bias in linguistics textbooks published in Language highlighted in the media (Rutgers, AAAS EurekAlert!, LSA Meet the Authors event)
June, 2021
Interviewed and featured in Episode: Invasive Species!, American Refugee (Sam Graber)
May, 2021
Interviewed and quoted in 3 “compliments” that actually fetishize POC (by Melissa Pandika) Mic.com 5/24/21
April, 2021
Featured in Rutgers Arts and Sciences release Exploring the connection between language and justice: New Rutgers humanities initiative seeks interdisciplinary conversations (by John Chadwick) 4/8/21
January, 2021
Interviewed and quoted in What exactly does it mean to be a patriot? Experts say it’s not easy to define (by Amir Vera) CNN 1/30/21
September, 2020
Interviewed and quoted in How to Incorporate Inclusive Language in Your Marketing Materials (by Althea Fung) Health Care Marketing 9/18/20
July, 2020
Interviewed and quoted in Here are some commonly used terms that actually have racist origins (by Olivia Eubanks) ABC News 7/30/20
Interviewed and featured on The Language of Racism: Why It’s Time to Get Rid of Master Bedroom, Cake Walk, Grandfather Clause WBUR’s Here & Now/NPR 7/23/20
Interviewed and cited in From ‘master bedroom’ to ‘blacklist’: What will it take to change racist terms in our everyday language? (by Korin Miller) Yahoo! Life 7/7/20
May, 2020
Interviewed and featured in Episode: The Fascinating Ways Video Chat May Impact Language, In Plain Language (Kelsey Kloss)
November, 2019
Interviewed for the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences News: A Rutgers linguist discusses the battle over sexist language
My lab featured in The Daily Targum, Rutgers: Rutgers linguistics lab researches computer interactions with language
Interviewed and featured in Episode: How is the internet changing language for kids, In Plain Language (Kelsey Kloss)
October, 2019
Quoted in Inclusive Language Guide, Counseling@Northwestern blog, The Family Institute, Northwestern University 10/16/19
July, 2019
Quoted in coverage of the Berkeley gender-neutral language ordinance, The Associated Press [Forget ‘manmade’: Berkeley drops gender-specific words, Business Insider] 7/19/19
Spring, 2018
My lab featured in Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences Access Magazine [pdf]
My lab featured in Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences feature on RuCCS
April, 2016
Quoted in Millenials discuss origin of modern language terms. The Daily Targum, Rutgers
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Beyond research
I have two children and two beagles. I love a good high intensity workout with free weights and cardio, especially if there’s a challenge. I also enjoy hiking (especially where there’s good elevation gain), zip lining, ropes courses. I’ve been practicing yoga for over 20 years. I love ashtanga, Jivamukti, and a good hot power vinyasa flow class. I’m a pescatarian/vegetarian. I love baking. If I were at Hogwarts, I would be sorted into Ravenclaw.
