Prospective Graduate Students
I will be considering applications for doctoral students to begin Fall ’26 in the Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders. You can read about what I am looking for in applications below. I suggest reading about current lab projects and publications.
Current Research: We study language and communication in autism, including communicative feedback, morphosyntactic development, and linguistic processing. Additional interests are understanding influences on language and communication development and improving research methods. We collaborate with other researchers who study autistic youth and adults. To conduct this work, we use behavioral methods, including clinical assessment and psycholinguistic measures, and fNIRS.
How I Evaluate Applicants: I evaluate prospective graduate students holistically. I consider all the ways in which applicants’ experience and interests demonstrate excellence and a strong likelihood to succeed in the graduate program and in my lab. Specifically:
- I read personal statements carefully, including the questions that applicants are interested in studying, and look for individuals whose ideas about research questions are a strong match to my own interests, skill set, and knowledge base. I also look for skills that align with our current projects.
- I am unlikely to admit a student who has not previously worked with youth or adults (ideally in research) or who does not have experience in at least one area, including: clinical assessment, linguistics (morphosyntax), meta-science (systematic review, meta-analysis, secondary data analysis), fNIRS or related methods, and programming (Python, R, etc.).
Lab Postbac or Postdoc
I will also be considering applications for a lab manager and/or postdoctoral fellow on a rolling basis. Both roles require excellent time management and problem solving skills, as well as the ability to work efficiently and independently. Please reach out by email if interested.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
We generally have a few openings for new undergraduate students to join the lab each year. We will begin processing applications to join the lab for Spring 2026 in December 2025. You can complete this form at any time, but we will not consider applications outside of this time period. Please email the lab after you complete the form.