Background: Child and Family Development
Research: Bilingual language development, identity, and school readiness

What were your previous program(s) of study or experiences?

I graduated from San Diego State University (SDSU) with a major in Child and Family. At SDSU, I was involved in research projects related to executive function in English- and Spanish- speaking monolinguals and Spanish-English bilingual children, and parent-child interactions across Spanish- and English-speaking dyads. Also, I received the International Congress of Infant Studies Undergraduate Research Fellowship over the summer of 2017 to conduct research with Dr. Adriana Weisleder in the Bellevue Project for Early Language, Literacy, and Education Success at New York University School of Medicine.

What are your research interests?

I am interested in how language interactions in the home and school may influence language development, identity, and school readiness in bilingual children and children with communicative delays.

What is a project that are you working on?

I am working on a project that will examine booksharing interactions in Latinx Spanish-English dual language learners and their caregivers using a culturally relevant book and a non-cultural relevant book. This will help us understand how the type of book may influence caregiver-child interactions, enjoyment/preference of a book, and what children learn from the books.

What made you choose Northwestern’s CSD department?

I chose Northwestern’s CSD department because I knew that I would have a great support system to help me succeed in my Ph.D. program. I chose to work with Dr. Adriana Weisleder because of her expertise in bilingual language development and her incredible support to students. Lastly, I chose Northwestern’s CSD department because of the interdisciplinary work within the department and across departments.

What are your professional goals?

My professional goals are to become a professor, increasing the diversity of academic scientists and research questions while advocating for low-income families in my community.