I am a doctoral candidate in Linguistics at the CUNY Graduate Center, New York City.  My research interests are in phonetics and phonology, Austro-Asiatic languages, historical reconstruction and comparative linguistics, and endangered and understudied languages.

Theoretically, I am interested in phonological constituency, complex segments and their representations, and the relationship between phonological constituency and literacy acquisition.  My interest in Austro-Asiatic languages stems from my interest in the culture and heritage of Southeast Asia.  Several language families in this part of the world are understudied, and the lack of available data means many of the historical relationships between peoples remain unclear.  Further, many indigenous peoples in this region live in areas that are considerably deprived.  I believe that linguistic description not only furthers scientific knowledge of language, history and culture in Southeast Asia, but that it supports the development of resources and education in this region, thereby enabling literacy materials to be a source of empowerment.

Besides my role as a student, I have taught Linguistics classes at CUNY Queens College and CCNY, and I work as a Multilingual Writing Consultant at Baruch College.  See Teaching for details.

Before academia, I worked and lived overseas, where I encountered many, many interesting questions about language.  I was inspired to return to school to investigate their answers.