Current Projects

(Professor of Japanese Linguistics) and Volya Kapatsinski (Professor of Linguistics) have been awarded a $493,811 grant from the National Science Foundation for their project “The Role of Learned Selective Attention in Speech Adaptation” (2025–2028). Congratulations on this exciting collaboration!

Project title: The role of learned selective attention in speech adaptation
Funding Agency: NSF 
Three year project, $493,811.00I am a Co-pi on this grant with my colleague Volya Kapatsinski from Linguistics

No two people speak exactly alike, even when using the same language. As a result, one person's “bear” may sound like another person's “pear.” The subtle difference between such minimally different words comes down to small acoustic details in how they are pronounced, some of which vary across accents.  Nevertheless, listeners can usually adapt quickly to novel accents. Our project investigates how people perceptually adjust to talker differences in speech production, testing the hypothesis that adaptation occurs through shifts in attention to acoustic parameters that improve recognition accuracy. To examine this, we combine computational modeling with behavioral experiments to test key predictions of a computational model of accent adaptation.Understanding how listeners adapt to different speech patterns has broad implications for improving communication technologies, developing interventions to support individuals with speech or language processing difficulties, and enhancing second and foreign language acquisition.  This grant also provides opportunities to mentor graduate students in research.

(Associate Professor, Global Studies) and Rebecca Tarlau (Stanford University) have received a $500,000 Spencer Foundation Large Grant for their project “Educating for Food Sovereignty: Social Movements, Sustainable Agriculture, and Latin American Institutes of Agroecology.” The grant will support four years of intensive, participatory fieldwork with grassroots social movements in Colombia, Chile, and Nicaragua (2024–2028). Congratulations to both!

(Associate Professor, Global Studies), along with colleagues Zachary DuBois and Josh Snodgrass (Anthropology), has received a National Science Foundation Senior Award (recommended for funding). This three-year project (2023–2026) explores stress, health, and resilience among people experiencing houselessness in Eugene. The research is a cross-departmental collaboration and includes a partnership with Black Thistle Street Aid to support outreach and service provision. Congratulations to the entire team!

Project title: Homelessness and health: Integrating structural, social, and behavioral pathways
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation (Award #2317286, $428,643)
Co-Principal Investigators: Lesley Jo Weaver (Global Studies) and J. Josh Snodgrass (Anthropology)

This research investigates the individual, community, and structural factors that drive differences in health among people experiencing housing insecurity (PEH) in Eugene, OR. The project has two main goals. First, it aims to advance scientific understandings of health disparities in some of America’s most marginalized populations. Second, it aims to identify points where mid-stream intervention could support the health of PEH in Eugene, the city with the highest per-capita homelessness in the USA. The results of the study will be shared with policymakers and the general public through presentations, publications, and a podcast where people with lived experience can share their stories.