# BLAB News [### Goodbye Blabbies! ](/news/2026/05/goodbye-blabbies) May 05, 2026 Congrats to graduating seniors **Taft Foley**, **Christina Wang**, and **Diana Liu**! Goodbye and good luck to **Dr. Rainy Dong** and **Dr. Victor Gomes** in your new positions! And farewell **Anna Kovaleva**, who is returning to the UK! We'll miss you all! ![The Bergelson Lab poses as a group around a conference table, some smile and hold up a cake](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/IMG_2934.jpeg?h=371b608e&itok=aZS9QIS3) [### Lily's 2nd Year talk ](/news/2026/05/lilys-2nd-year-talk) May 01, 2026 Ph.D. Student **Lily Zhu** recently gave her 2nd year talk! Congrats on this milestone Lily! ![Lily stands at a podium in front of a projector screen addressing an audience](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/IMG_2951.jpg?h=7d1a88d0&itok=WxfglkVq) [### Welcome new RAs! ](https://prod-bergelsonlab.drupalsites.harvard.edu/people) February 03, 2026 The Blab is happy to welcome three new research assistants: **Runa Matsushita**, **Rylea Pritchett**, and **Diana Liu**! Read all about them on our people page! ![Three small puppies run through grass](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/istockphoto-518651676-612x612.jpg?itok=84joh9dF) [### Lily Receives an MBB grant! ](/news/2025/12/lily-receives-mbb-grant) December 19, 2025 Congratulations to the amazing Ph.D. candidate **Lily Zhu** for receiving a Mind Brain Behavior Interdisciplinary Mind Grant! ![A sparkly pink brain](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/brain-human-anatomy-biology-organ-body-system-health-care-medical-hand-drawn-cartoon-art-illustration_56104-953.jpeg?itok=SXp1xluD) [### Paper Accepted! ](/news/2025/12/paper-accepted) December 18, 2025 Congratulations to **Dr. Rainy Dong**, **Dr. Charlotte Moore**, **Jen Ramadurai**, and **Dr. B** on their paper recently being accepted to *Developmental Psychology*! ![Developmental Psychology](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/dev-tile_tcm7-301953.jpg?h=1256bae0&itok=e1t-zB8h) [### So Long & Congrats Jordan! ](/news/2025/12/so-long-congrats-jordan) December 15, 2025 Congratulations to the amazing undergraduate RA **Jordan Mitchell** on your early graduation! We'll miss you in Cambridge! ![Jordan stands in the woods, smiling gently. She has shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes, and wears a cream cardigan over a blue shirt with a gray scarf.](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-12/Mitchell.jpeg?h=4d221873&itok=Y-V026uF) [### Goodbye Jasenia & Marvin! ](/news/2025/12/goodbye-jasenia-marvin) December 05, 2025 The Blab is very sad to say goodbye to **Dr. Jasenia Hartman** and **Dr. Marvin Lavechin.** Good luck on your next adventures you two! We'll miss you! ![The blab poses as a group](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/IMG_2621.jpg?itok=4M6-Bpa9) [### Congrats Amanda! ](/news/2025/11/congrats-amanda) November 20, 2025 A huge congrats to the stupendous postdoctoral researcher **Dr. Amanda O'Brien** who recently received a Simons Center for the Social Brain Postdoctoral Fellowship! ![Simons Center for the Social Brain Logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/unnamed.jpg?h=239dcb16&itok=VfJun62u) [### Blab at BUCLD50 ](/news/2025/11/blab-bucld50) November 09, 2025 Three talks and three posters later! Congratulations again to **Lily Zhu**, **Alex Emmert** & **Lilli Righter**, **Dr. Jasenia Hartman**, **Kristen Gilyard**, **Genia Lukin**, and **Dr. Rainy Dong** on a tremendous BUCLD! ![The Blab sits together at a long table smiling](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-11/IMG_1595.jpg?h=bba99c27&itok=IUp33ukd) [### Genia wins Jean Berko Gleason Prize ](/news/2025/10/genia-wins-jean-berko-gleason-prize) October 08, 2025 Ph.D. student Genia Lukin won the Jean Berko Gleason prize for most highly rated student abstract at BUCLD50! Incredible work Genia! ![Genia stands on a stage receiving a certificate from a presenter](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-11/6875202563594509183.jpg?h=2e0bc294&itok=uX_BCuF2) [### Welcome Amanda & Rachel! ](/news/2025/09/welcome-amanda-rachel) September 02, 2025 New Blabber Alert! We are happy to welcome **Dr.** **Amanda O'Brien** as a new postdoc in the blab. And we are excited to welcome new Ph.D candidate **Rachel Liu**! ![Two puppies sit in the grass](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-09/Blab_new_puppies.jpg?itok=Imfc0Ywg) [### Paper Accepted! ](/news/2025/08/paper-accepted) August 25, 2025 A long time coming paper "Experience shapes early noun comprehension from 8-18 months: The roles of word frequency and referent familiarity" was recently accepted at BRM! Congrats to the many Blabbers who worked hard on this project! ![Behavior Research Methods Logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-09/BRM_logo.png?itok=P7cnjjju) [### Welcome Kien! ](/news/2025/08/welcome-kien) August 12, 2025 We're excited to welcome **Kien Nguyen** to the Blab as new lab technician! Kien is a recent graduate of Macalester College. Welcome to Cambridge Kien! ![Kien smiles while sipping a coffee](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-09/KNguyen_adult.jpg?h=660770aa&itok=l4pTi0ta) [### Blab at BUCLD 50 ](/news/2025/07/blab-bucld-50) July 31, 2025 We're ecstatic to announce that the Blab will be presenting three talks and three posters at BUCLD 2025! Congratulations to **Lily Zhu**, **Alex Emmert** & **Lilli Righter**, **Dr. Jasenia Hartman**, **Kristen Gilyard**, **Genia Lukin**, and **Dr. Rainy Dong**! Catch us there! ![BUCD logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bucld.jpeg?itok=ifWrf2R0) [### Goodbye Lilli & Zhenya! ](/news/2025/06/goodbye-lilli-zhenya) June 30, 2025 We're very sad to say goodbye to longtime Lab Manager **Lilli Righter** and Lab Tech **Zhenya Kalenkovich**! Good luck, you two! The BLAB will miss you! ![All of the Blab members stand smiling on a set of stairs.](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-07/blab_all_0725_1.jpg?itok=lw-wwqfC) [### Nicole wins a Fulbright ](/news/2025/05/nicole-wins-fulbright) May 13, 2025 Research assistant **Nicole Calderon '25** recently received a Fullbright scholarship to teach in Spain! Go Nicole! ![Fullbright logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/fulbright.jpg?itok=ORKqQvQv) [### Welcome Marvin! ](/news/2025/05/welcome-marvin) May 01, 2025 We're excited to welcome **Dr. Marvin Lavechin** to Blab as a postdoctoral researcher! Welcome to Cambridge Marvin! ![Marvin stands in a field. He is wearing a brown bucket hat and round glasses](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-06/Lavechin_adult.jpeg?itok=-J3tqtNZ) [### Goodbye Seniors & Olivia! ](/news/2025/04/goodbye-seniors-olivia) April 25, 2025 We're saying goodbye to three graduating blabbers this spring. Congratulations **Nicole**, **Grace**, and **Will**! We're also saying goodbye to our brilliant intern **Olivia**, who will be returning to the UK to finish her studies. We'll miss you all! ![Dr. Bergelson, Will Raidt, Olivia O'Connell, Nicole Calderon, and Grace Benkelman stand together in a courtyard.](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-06/goodbye_seniors_2025.png?itok=pjs5jnzV) [### Thesis Presenation ](/news/2025/04/thesis-presenation) April 15, 2025 Senior RA **Nicole Calderon** presented a poster on her senior thesis done in the BLAB. She investigated word form recognition in bilingual and monolingual infants. Congratulations Nicole! ![Nicole stands with Dr. Hartman and Dr. Bergelson smiling at the camera.](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-04/IMG_9947.jpg?h=fba43ba8&itok=F4uSGova) [### Paper Accepted! ](/news/2025/03/paper-accepted) March 31, 2025 Blabbers **Dr. Erin Campbell**, **Lilli Righter**, **Genia Lukin,** and **Dr. Bergelson** had their paper “Comparing Language Input in Homes of Young Blind and Sighted Children: Insights from Daylong Recordings” accepted for publication in *Language Development Research*... ![Language Development Research Journal Logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-04/12de5a3b-b4a6-4498-8c61-0ac4d5c17838.png?h=cc7c8723&itok=YRK44m8R) [### Welcome Rainy! ](/news/2025/01/welcome-rainy) January 20, 2025 Joining the Blab with the new year is **Dr. Rainy Dong**, who will work with the Blab as a postdoctoral researcher. Welcome to Cambridge Rainy! ![Dr. Dong smiles at the camera wearing a blue sweater and a black leather jacket](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/RDongadult.jpg?h=480e89a2&itok=B4CeomOy) [### BLAB members present at BUCLD49 ](/news/2024/11/blab-members-present-bucld49) November 10, 2024 Grad student **Genia Lukin** and lab manager, **Lilli Righter** presented research at the 49th annual Boston University Conference for Language Development. Former BLab member **Erin Campbell** also presented! ![BUCD logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bucld.jpeg?itok=ifWrf2R0) [### Welcome Sophie and Michika! ](/news/2024/08/welcome-sophie-and-michika) August 26, 2024 The BLAB welcomes two incoming lab managers: **Sophie Schoenbohm**, a recent graduate of Grinnell College, and **Michika Ito**, a recent graduate of Wellesley College. ![Two golden puppies sit in a flower meadow](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/doggos.jpg?itok=PqdFBB85) [### Dr. B speaking at SLD ](/news/2023/11/dr-b-speaking-sld) November 02, 2023 PI **Elika Bergelson, PhD** will be giving a talk as part of the Society for Language Development Symposium on November 2. The topic of the symposium is “The effects of poverty on language, cognition, and brain development.” ![Society for Language Development logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/sld.jpeg?h=af831099&itok=Ei1zcJUi) [### Blabbers at MPAL and BUCLD ](/news/2023/10/blabbers-mpal-and-bucld) October 01, 2023 **Erin Campbell, PhD,** lab manager **Lilli Righter** , and grad student **Genia Lukin** head to MPAL 2023 to share two posters and a talk on blind children’s early language. Also catch Genia and Erin at BUCLD 48 in November! ![Blab members stand together smiling at the camera](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/ECLRGL.png?h=c5595ca2&itok=CKO7hplK) [### BLAB moves to Harvard ](/news/2023/07/blab-moves-harvard) July 01, 2023 The Bergelson Lab has moved! We are now a part of the Laboratory for Developmental Studies in the Psychology Department at Harvard University. We’ll miss you, Durham! Hello Cambridge! ![The Harvard Crest](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-11/LDS_logo.png?itok=t3nBASAd) [### Congratulations, Dr. Campbell! ](/news/2023/06/congratulations-dr-campbell) June 14, 2023 The newest BLAB PhD just defended! **Dr. Erin Campbell** presented a stunning dissertation on language acquisition and the senses, including language development in blind and deaf children. Erin is off to Boston University, where she will work as a postdoc... ![Erin Campbell smiles in doctoral regalia](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/Screenshot%202025-03-12%20at%204.22.59%E2%80%AFPM.png?itok=uY6vdjEG) [### New Paper out on Gender and Vocabulary ](https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdev.13872) December 02, 2022 **Shannon Dailey, PhD** and PI **Elika Bergelson, PhD** recently published a paper in Child Development which provides evidence that parents’ language input doesn’t differ between girls and boys, but that parents talk more to infants who have themselves begun... ![Child development logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/child_dev.png?itok=TS2hDund) [### Grant to Dr. Bergelson ](/news/2022/12/grant-dr-bergelson) December 01, 2022 PI **Elika Bergelson, PhD** received an NIH R01 grant to study how social, cognitive, and linguistic skills contribute to word learning in the second year of life. We are excited to start work on new projects! Congratulations, Dr. B! ![National Institutes of Health logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/nih.jpeg?itok=YmJjF06T) [### BLAB alum awarded a grant ](https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2022/research/tongue-movement-in-babies-silent-language-practice/) November 22, 2022 BLAB alum **Catherine Laing, PhD** , current professor at the University of York, has been awarded a grant from the European Research Council to study infants’ tongue movements, vocal tract development, and speech sounds. Congratulations, Dr. Laing! Read more... ![Catherine Laing smiles in a blue coat in front of a river](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/laing_2022.jpeg?itok=XeB24kqs) [### New Lab Members ](/news/2022/09/new-lab-members) September 21, 2022 This fall, the BLAB welcomed new post-docs **Charles Davis** and **Jasenia Hartman**, new PhD student **Genia Lukin**, and new CNAP rotational PhD student **Kristen Gilyard**. ![Three black puppies wearing bandanas sit in a basket](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/black-lab-pups.jpeg?itok=vfaRG7j7) [### Congrats, Dr. Dailey! ](/news/2022/03/congrats-dr-dailey) March 14, 2022 **Shannon Dailey, PhD** successfully defended her dissertation on the role of language input in children’s language development, after many years in the BLAB: first as lab manager and then as a PhD student. She will continue her work as a postdoc in the... ![Shannon Dailey smiles in doctoral regalia as Dr. Bergelson fixes her hood behind her](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/Shannon_hood.jpeg?itok=hjwFnUuN) [### Jing wins thesis award ](/news/2022/01/jing-wins-thesis-award) January 20, 2022 **Jingxuan Liu ‘22** received the 2022 Jerome Bruner Thesis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research for her work focusing on adults’ perception of mispronunciation. ![A screenshot of a zoom meeting with Blab members](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/Jing_thesis.png?itok=_JoGYe6I) [### Newly-minted Dr. Charlotte Moore! ](/news/2021/07/newly-minted-dr-charlotte-moore) July 20, 2021 **Charlotte Moore, PhD** has become the first-ever PhD recipient from the BLAB, following the successful defense of her dissertation, “Variable wordforms, adaptable learners: Evidence from real-time word comprehension and naturalistic corpora.” She continues... ![Charlotte Moore wearing doctoral regalia](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/CharDefense.jpg?itok=o2hAsDrG) [### Summer Research Fellowship ](/news/2021/01/summer-research-fellowship) January 22, 2021 PhD student **Shannon Dailey** has received the competitive Summer Research Fellowship from the Duke Graduate School. ![Shannon Dailey wears a green jacket and gray scarf and smiles in front of a boat](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/dailey-news.jpg?itok=KeuU_kG_) [### Welcome, Lilli! ](/news/2020/08/welcome-lilli) August 31, 2020 The BLAB welcomes incoming lab manager **Lillianna Righter**, recent graduate of the University of Maryland. Welcome Lilli! ![A woman in a red quarter-zip holds three small puppies](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/baby_labs3.jpg?itok=y0Qo3y_a) [### BLAB to participate in BUCLD Remote Conference ](/news/2020/08/blab-participate-bucld-remote-conference) August 01, 2020 BLAB graduate student **Charlotte Moore** will be giving a talk at this fall’s Boston University Conference on Language Development and BLAB postdoc Federica Bulgarelli will be presenting a poster. Charlotte also received a Paula Menyuk Award for her abstract... ![BUCLD logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bucld_2.png?h=f69cf9e2&itok=RlZgueIC) [### Erin to present at Many Paths to Language Conference ](/news/2020/08/erin-present-many-paths-language-conference) August 01, 2020 In October, BLAB graduate student **Erin Campbell** will present at the Many Paths to Language Conference, organized by the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. ![MPaL logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/mpal.png?itok=-1EML_gV) [### Federica receives Lafitte grant ](/news/2020/07/federica-receives-lafitte-grant) July 31, 2020 BLAB postdoc **Federica Bulgarelli** was awarded a grant from the Charles Lafitte Foundation Program for Research in Psychology & Neuroscience to recruit bilingual babies from the Triangle area to participate in our lab’s studies. ![Charles Lafitte Foundation logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/clf.jpeg?h=36a6ba2f&itok=y3CH4tVa) [### Dr. Bergelson wins ICIS award ](/news/2020/07/dr-bergelson-wins-icis-award) July 06, 2020 **Elika Bergelson** was the recipient of this year’s Distinguished Early Career Contribution Award from the International Congress of Infant Studies. Congrats, Dr. B! ![International Congress of Infant Studies logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/icis.png?itok=nWlqdcZ_) [### Farewell to our graduates! ](/news/2020/05/farewell-our-graduates) May 10, 2020 Three seniors are leaving the BLAB; Farewll **Jessica** , **Sarah** , and **Junette** ! We are all proud of you and we will all miss everything you brought to the lab! ![Duke University Logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/duke.jpg?itok=MD47i85i) [### Jessica wins a fulbright ](/news/2020/05/jessica-wins-fulbright) May 04, 2020 Congratulations to research assistant **Jessica Marlow** ‘20 for winning a Fulbright! Jessica will pursue a full-time international Master’s of Science in Global Health at National Taiwan University, the most comprehensive university and the foremost research... ![Fullbright logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/fulbright.jpg?itok=ORKqQvQv) [### Natasha wins a fulbright ](/news/2020/05/natasha-wins-fulbright) May 04, 2020 Congratulations to research assistant **Natasha Derezinski-Choo** ‘18 for winning a Fulbright! Natasha will work in Cameroon on the project “Many Medicines and Many Languages: The Sociolinguistic Underpinnings of Medical Pluralism.” ![Fullbright logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/fulbright.jpg?itok=ORKqQvQv) [### Shannon Completes her MAP ](/news/2020/04/shannon-completes-her-map) April 20, 2020 The BLAB is proud to announce that Ph.D. candiate **Shannon Dailey** has completed her MAP. Well done Shannon! ![Shannon Dailey wears a green jacket and gray scarf and smiles in front of a boat](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/dailey-news.jpg?itok=KeuU_kG_) [### Sarah recieves a GwD ](/news/2020/04/sarah-recieves-gwd) April 15, 2020 The BLAB is proud to announce that our research assistant **Sarah Yang** ‘20 has graduated with distinction! Congratulations Sarah! ![Sarah yang smiles brightly at the camera](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/yang-crop.jpg?itok=Epm8oDcV) [### Charlotte to R workshop ](/news/2019/10/charlotte-r-workshop) October 01, 2019 Graduate student **Charlotte Moore** was awarded a travel award from the Charles Lafitte Foundation to attend an R workshop on “Building Tidy Tools” in Atlanta, GA on October 14–15, 2019. Congratulations, Charlotte! ![R workshop logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/r_workshop.jpg?itok=Lvw8hVnB) [### BLAB Presentations at BUCLD ](/news/2019/09/blab-presentations-bucld) September 23, 2019 Look out for the BLAB at BUCLD 2019! **Dr. Federica Bulgarelli** will be giving a talk, **Erin Campbell** and **Charlotte Moore** will be presenting posters, and **Dr. Elika Bergelson** will be presenting at a symposium. 11 BLAB members will be attending! ![BUCD logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bucld.jpeg?itok=ifWrf2R0) [### Bergelson lab welcomes 5 new research assistants ](/news/2019/09/bergelson-lab-welcomes-5-new-research-assistants) September 16, 2019 The BLAB is pleased to add five new members! Welcome **Jing**, **Georgia**, **Jessica**, **Madeleine**, and **Lauren**! We look forward to a fantastic year with you on our crew! ![Five puppies sit in a red wagon](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/baby_labs.jpg?itok=LM9hS7m1) [### 2 blab Members received travel awards for BUCLD ](/news/2019/09/2-blab-members-received-travel-awards-bucld) September 17, 2019 Congratulations to **Dr. Federica Bulgarelli** and research assistant **Olivia Leggio** for getting travel funding from the Charles Lafitte Foundation! ![Society for Language Development and Duke Psych & Neuro logos](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bucld2018funding.jpg?itok=LpepiW3f) [### Bergelson Lab welcomes new Project Coordinator ](/news/2019/08/bergelson-lab-welcomes-new-project-coordinator) August 25, 2019 The BLAB happily welcomes **Aahnix Bathurst** as a new Project Coordinator! We’re looking forward to a great year! ![Three puppies sit in a basket](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/puppies_3.jpg?itok=laGaY6pL) [### SNP Summer 2019 ](https://psychandneuro.duke.edu/undergraduate/neuroscience/current-students/summer-neuroscience-program) July 26, 2019 Undergrad **Junette Yu** completed a summer research project through the Summer Neuroscience Program (SNP) , mentored by PI **Dr. Elika Bergelson** and graduate student **Erin Campbell** . She presented her EEG work at the poster session. ![Two students hug and smile in front of a research poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/snp_junette_2019.jpg?itok=T4-U1YOB) [### VIPs Summer 2019 ](https://psychandneuro.duke.edu/summer-vertical-integration-program-vip) July 11, 2019 Undergrad **Sarah Yang** completed a summer research project through the Summer Neuroscience Program (VIP) , mentored by PI **Dr. Elika Bergelson** and graduate students **Shannon Dailey** and **Charlotte Moore** . She gave a talk and poster presentation about her... ![Dr. Bergelson stands with three students, all holding popsicles](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/vip_sarah_2019.jpg?h=57feb837&itok=at_cah9f) [### BLAB Welcomes New Members ](/news/2019/07/blab-welcomes-new-members) July 03, 2019 **Dr. Carla Fernandez** will be jointly mentored by the BLAB and the Woldorff Lab at Duke as a post-doctoral researcher. The BLAB also welcomes **Irene Tang**, new lab manager, and **Sarp Uner**, new lab technician. ![five puppies crawl over a log](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/baby_labs2.jpeg?itok=sFrWZmxY) [### BLAB at BUCLD 2019 ](/news/2019/07/blab-bucld-2019) July 01, 2019 BLAB members will be presenting two talks and two posters at BUCLD 2019 this November. ![BUCD logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bucld.jpeg?itok=ifWrf2R0) [### CAREER Award ](/news/2019/05/career-award) May 17, 2019 PI **Elika Bergelson** received an NSF CAREER award to study language development in blind infants and deaf infants. Congratulations, Dr. Bergelson! ![NSF logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/NSF_career.jpg?itok=1fk18D_M) [### Workshop on Infant Language Development ](/news/2019/04/workshop-infant-language-development) April 10, 2019 Graduate student **Charlotte Moore** and PI **Elika Bergelson** will be presenting a talk titled “18-month-olds’ representations of vowels in regular & irregular verbs: A mispronunciation study” in Potsdam, Germany in June. ![WILD logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/WILD2019.jpg?itok=NMnbbKi1) [### GRFP Award ](/news/2019/04/grfp-award) April 09, 2019 Graduate student **Erin Campbell** is now a fellow in the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Go, Erin! ![NSF logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/nsfgradfellowship.jpg?itok=arsZF2pG) [### Congratulations, Munna! ](/news/2018/11/congratulations-munna) November 27, 2018 Former Bergelson Lab/Seedlings staff member **Sharath (Munna) Koorathota** is starting an Master’s degree in computer science at Columbia University, specializing in AI and Machine Learning. Congrats, Munna! ![Sharath (Munna) Koorathota wears a red shirt and smiles in front of a blue background](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/munna-koorathota.jpg?itok=Fq6TXYCn) [### 4 BLAB members received travel awards for BUCLD ](/news/2018/10/4-blab-members-received-travel-awards-bucld) October 22, 2018 **Dr. Federica Bulgarelli** and **Shannon Dailey** received the Paula Menyuk Travel Award, Shannon received the Society for Language Development student award, and undergraduate RAs **Sarah Yang** and **Katya Khlystova** received departmental travel awards! ![Society for Language Development and Duke Psych & Neuro logos](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bucld2018funding.jpg?itok=LpepiW3f) [### BLAB presentations at BUCLD ](/news/2018/10/blab-presentations-bucld) October 22, 2018 Look out for the BLAB at BUCLD 2018! 9 BLAB members will be in attendance, **Dr. Federica Bulgarelli** and **Shannon Dailey** will be giving talks, and **Dr. Elika Bergelson** will be presenting a poster. ![BUCD logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bucld.jpeg?itok=ifWrf2R0) [### BLAB welcomes two post-docs and a new lab tech ](/news/2018/08/blab-welcomes-two-post-docs-and-new-lab-tech) August 22, 2018 **Dr. Federica Bulgarelli** and **Dr. Stephan Meylan** are joining the BLAB as post-doctoral researchers this fall. The BLAB also welcomes **Gladys Baudet** , who will work as our lab technician. ![Five puppies sit in a red wagon](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/baby_labs.jpg?itok=LM9hS7m1) [### BLAB at BUCLD 2018 ](https://www.bu.edu/bucld/) July 28, 2018 BLAB members will be presenting two talks and a poster at BUCLD 2018 this November. ![BUCD logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bucld.jpeg?itok=ifWrf2R0) [### Dr. Bergelson Named Crandall Family Assistant Professor ](/news/2018/04/dr-bergelson-named-crandall-family-assistant-professor) April 22, 2018 **Dr. Bergelson** has been named the first Crandall Family Assistant Professor by Duke’s Arts and Sciences, in conjunction withthe Duke Bass Connections’ Education and Human Development Theme. Congratulations, Dr. Bergelson! ![Woman smiles into the camera ](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-08/elika_2025_photo.png?itok=_ZDWz3BW) [### Grant to study early language acquisition with sensory impairment ](/news/2018/04/grant-study-early-language-acquisition-sensory-impairment) April 09, 2018 **Dr. Bergelson** , along with Dr. Dan King (Duke Audiology) and Dr. Sharon Freedman (Duke Ophthalmology & Pediatrics), has been awarded a pilot grant by Duke’s ABC-Thrive for their project “Early Language Acquisition with Sensory Impairment.” ![Duke and THRIVE logos](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/abc-thrive.png?itok=yjkmxVTI) [### New graduate student Erin Campbell ](/news/2018/03/new-graduate-student-erin-campbell) March 28, 2018 The BLAB is excited to announce that **Erin Campbell** will be joining us as a PhD student in the fall of 2018. Welcome, Erin! ![Duke Graduate School logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/duke_graduate_school.png?itok=jRf9trVo) [### Lab Technician Andrei Amatuni starting PhD at IU ](/news/2018/03/lab-technician-andrei-amatuni-starting-phd-iu) March 28, 2018 BLAB technician extraordinaire **Andrei Amatuni** will be leaving us to begin his PhD in Cognitive Science at Indiana University this fall. Congrats, Andrei! We’ll miss you! ![Indiana Univerisity Logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/iu.png?itok=xnt_Vr0S) [### Cognitive, Auditory, and Neural Bases of Language & Speech Research Group ](/news/2018/02/cognitive-auditory-and-neural-bases-language-speech-research-group) February 21, 2018 The CANBLS research group, co-convened by PI **Elika Bergelson** and colleagues, brings together researchers with varying approaches to studying language and speech. Members of the BLAB attend monthly meetings to share and discuss research that further... ![Duke Institute for Brain Sciences logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/dibs_logo.jpg?itok=M8JHQ3br) [### Speech Diarization Challenge ](/news/2018/02/speech-diarization-challenge) February 16, 2018 The BLAB has contributed to the First DIHARD Speech Diarization Challenge. Preliminary results will be presented in late 2018. ![Blue computer circuts](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bigdata.jpg?itok=tFIkVMBu) [### P&N Person of the Week ](https://psychandneuro.duke.edu/news/pn-person-week-andrei-amatuni) February 12, 2018 BLAB member **Andrei Amatuni** was featured on the Duke Psychology and Neuroscience website as Person of the Week! Check out the P&N News Feed to read about Andrei’s work and interests. ![Andrei Amatuni wears a light blue shirt and stands in front of a sprawling city landscape](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/amatuni.JPG?itok=MIU_mhm6) [### Language Acquisition Group ](/news/2017/09/language-acquisition-group) September 29, 2017 Members of the BLAB are engaging in collaborative meetings with our colleagues at UNC. Meetings provide faculty and graduate students a space to share ideas and discuss work relevant to the topic of language acquisition. ![Duke University and UNC logos](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/duke-unc.jpg?itok=AqM-6LND) [### Paper Published ](https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s12671-017-0793-z?author_access_token=T2lnbuCZydex-sA__9gAD_e4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY4XMSAjtTGrx6Arha5GYML3XLHh16BouIXa_0TrBcbWawqtOJzeG_CLKNzYM0xSkjgUAN1Y_TTFFfVkYalQVXt-ARft1jTMUdCFdvj8cTCskw%3D%3D) August 30, 2017 Graduate student **Shannon Dailey** recently had a paper on her undergraduate work on mindfulness meditation published in the journal *Mindfulness*. ![Shannon Dailey wears a green jacket and gray scarf and smiles in front of a boat](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/dailey-news.jpg?itok=KeuU_kG_) [### BUCLD Travel Awards ](/news/2017/08/bucld-travel-awards) August 17, 2017 Graduate students **Shannon Dailey** and **Charlotte Moore** both won a Paula Menyuk Travel Award for BUCLD 2017! ![BUCD logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bucld.jpeg?itok=ifWrf2R0) [### See you later, Catherine! ](/news/2017/07/see-you-later-catherine) July 14, 2017 Today, the BLAB said “See you later” to our wonderful postdoc, **Catherine Laing** . We wish you all the best, and know you’ll do great things at Cardiff! ![Blab members stand together smiling at the camera](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/byeCL_news.JPG?itok=19PwEqpF) [### Congrats, VIPs! ](/news/2017/07/congrats-vips) July 13, 2017 Congratulations to our VIP students this summer, **Estelle He** and **Reena Jasani** , for doing a great job on their talks and poster presentations! ![Two students stand in front of their research posters](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/vip_posters_2017.jpg?itok=LcEZmbhf) [### BLab at BUCLD ](https://www.bu.edu/bucld/schedule-48/) July 11, 2017 BLAB members will be presenting two talks and three posters at BUCLD 2017 this November. ![BUCD logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/bucld.jpeg?itok=ifWrf2R0) [### BLab at CDS ](/news/2017/06/blab-cds) June 22, 2017 Look out for the BLAB at CDS 2017, with pre-conference and conference talks by **Dr. Bergelson**! ![Cognitive Development Society logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/cds.jpg?itok=LdxrMX_9) [### Paper Accepted ](/news/2017/05/paper-accepted) May 08, 2017 Congratulations to our postdoc, **Catherine Laing** , who recently had a paper accepted to the *Journal of Experimental Child Psychology* ! Coming soon: “A perceptual advantage for onomatopoeia in early word learning: Evidence from eye-tracking.” ![Catherine Laing smiles in front of a grassy background landscape](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/laing-news2.jpg?itok=QXKHJLy1) [### Grant Award ](/news/2017/05/grant-award) May 08, 2017 Congratulations to our graduate student, **Charlotte Moore** , who was recently awarded an SSHRC Doctoral fellowship! ![Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/sshrc.jpg?itok=-X55-tWv) [### First Year Festival ](/news/2017/04/first-year-festival) April 28, 2017 Congratulations to our graduate student, **Charlotte Moore** , who finished up a great first year at Duke with her successful presentation at the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience’s first year festival! ![Charlotte Moore wears a dark blue zip up and smiles in front of a waterfall](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/moore-news.jpg?itok=WQVirWWK) [### Paper Accepted ](/news/2017/04/paper-accepted) April 17, 2017 **Dr. Bergelson** just had a paper accepted to *Language Learning and Development*: Semantic Specificity in One-Year-Olds’ Word Comprehension, Bergelson & Aslin, 2017. ![a young child in a striped shirt holds a pink heart-shaped cookie cutter](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/stockbaby_heart.jpg?itok=YH0VGSYN) [### Lab Manager Staying at Duke ](/news/2017/04/lab-manager-staying-duke) April 15, 2017 Lab manager **Shannon Dailey** will be staying in the BLAB next year as a graduate student! She will continue working with Dr. Bergelson as she begins her PhD here at Duke this Fall. ![Duke University Logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-12/Duke_logo.jpg?h=5185673b&itok=0Itmvfns) [### BLab at CogSci ](https://cognitivesciencesociety.org/) April 10, 2017 The BLAB has a 100% acceptance rate to CogSci! Lab technician **Andrei Amatuni** and postdoc **Catherine Laing** were both accepted to the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society in London this July. ![Cognitive Science Society logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/cogsci.jpg?itok=Me5SQS2y) [### BLab at SRCD ](https://www.srcd.org/events) April 07, 2017 Lab manager **Shannon Dailey** gave a talk titled “Semantic Relatedness Effects in Early Word Learning” at the Society of Research in Cognitive Development’s 2017 meeting in Austin, TX. ![Society for Research in Cognitive Development logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/srcd_logo.png?itok=XK6QlLRw) [### Digging Into Data Grant ](https://sites.google.com/view/aclewdid) March 29, 2017 PI **Dr. Elika Bergelson** is a grant recipient of Trans-Atlantic Platform’s Digging Into Data Challenge Grant for the Analyzing Child Language Experiences around the World (ACLEW) project. ACLEW will be studying child language development across cultures. ![Digging Into Data logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/did-logo.gif?itok=5YBs_JjA) [### BLab at Interspeech ](https://www.isca-archive.org/interspeech_2017/) March 22, 2017 The BLAB will be featured in two Special Sessions at Interspeech 2017 in Stockholm this August. The sessions focus on data collection and annotation issues in child language acquisition research, and on a Computational Paralinguistics ChallengE (ComParE). ![Interspeech Conference Logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/Interspeech2017.jpg?itok=fWalOCe0) [### Postdoc Going to Cardiff University ](/news/2017/03/postdoc-going-cardiff-university) March 22, 2017 Our postdoctoral researcher, **Dr. Catherine Laing**, has been appointed as a Lecturer in the Department of Language and Communication at Cardiff University in Wales. Beginning this summer, she will research and teach in the areas of child language... ![Cardiff University Logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/cardiff.jpg?itok=iLqn4R76) [### Manybabies Project ](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/infa.12182) March 09, 2017 PI **Dr. Elika Bergelson** is part of a consortium promoting best practices in infancy research, called ManyBabies. Their paper was recently published in *Infancy*! Check it out here. ![A group of babies in white shirts smile and laugh](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/manybabies_0.jpg?itok=gPLT-CUd) [### BLab at SRCD ](/news/2016/12/blab-srcd) December 08, 2016 Lab manager **Shannon Dailey** will give a talk titled “Semantic Relatedness Effects in Early Word Learning” at Society of Research in Cognitive Development’s 2017 meeting in Austin, TX. ![Society for Research in Cognitive Development logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-12/unnamed.png?h=70fd1449&itok=gmAHxqEH) [### Why "Baby Talk" is good for your baby ](https://theconversation.com/heres-why-baby-talk-is-good-for-your-baby-68216) November 10, 2016 Postdoc **Dr. Catherine Laing** wrote an article for the Conversation USA: “Here’s why ‘baby talk’ is good for your baby.” ![Hands hold a pregnant belly](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-12/Screenshot%202024-12-18%20at%2011.17.49%E2%80%AFAM.png?itok=OlTaHayE) [### Lab members at BUCLD ](https://www.bu.edu/bucld/) November 01, 2016 Look out for lab alum **Tessa Eagle**‘s honors thesis (poster) and postdoc **Dr. Catherine Laing**‘s PhD research (talk) at BUCLD 2016! ![BUCLD logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-12/bucld.jpg?itok=CaTtt06K) [### Charlotte's Paper Published ](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27544643/) October 19, 2016 Graduate student **Charlotte Moore** recently had a paper published based on research she did during her Master’s degree. ![a young baby wears oversized headphones](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-12/Screenshot%202024-12-18%20at%2011.05.06%E2%80%AFAM.png?itok=zidGb7Hl) [### COGSCI WorkShop ](/news/2016/08/cogsci-workshop) August 09, 2016 **Dr. Elika Bergelson** organized a workshop on naturalistic language acquisition data at CogSci 2016 in Philadelphia, PA. ![Cognitive Science Society logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-12/Screenshot%202024-12-18%20at%2010.58.04%E2%80%AFAM.png?itok=gWXFMypr) [### Bergelson Lab Moves to Duke ](/news/2016/08/bergelson-lab-moves-duke) August 01, 2016 The Bergelson Lab has officially moved to Duke. Debate about when to start trying to say ‘y’all’ ensues. ![Duke University Logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-12/Duke_logo.jpg?h=5185673b&itok=0Itmvfns) [### SEEDLings Data Collection Complete! ](/news/2016/07/seedlings-data-collection-complete) July 25, 2016 After nearly two years, SEEDLingS longitudinal data collection is complete. Not a single home or in-lab visit was missed! ![Rochester Baby Lab logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum3941/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-12/rochester_baby_lab_logo.png?itok=zOfDKqu1)