Current Members
Megan C. Gross
Megan C. Gross is the Director of the Bilingual Language Development Lab. She joined the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at UMass Amherst as an Assistant Professor in 2018 and teaches courses on Evaluation Processes with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations and Language Disorders in Children. She completed her Master’s in Speech-Language Pathology and her PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Gross’s research examines the development of bilingual children with and without communication disorders. Broadly, she is interested in the relationships among the linguistic, cognitive, social, and environmental factors that contribute to bilingual children’s ability to speak and understand both languages. Dr. Gross is also a certified, licensed speech-language pathologist with clinical interests in bilingual assessment and intervention. Dr. Gross values community-engaged research and welcomes opportunities to collaborate with community organizations and clinicians.
Ada López González
Ada is a third-year Ph.D. student at the Communication Disorders Department at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. In 2018, she graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a master’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology. Ada worked as a certified pediatric bilingual SLP for three years in Las Vegas, Nevada, serving the Latine population. After gaining experience as an SLP, she decided to pursue a doctorate degree to increase research on the Latine population, especially working with children from Puerto Rico. Her research interests are family-centered early intervention and bilingualism. Ada loves visiting her family in Puerto Rico, swimming on the island’s beautiful beaches, visiting friends, and enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon climb in the mountains of New England.
Maria Alejandra Meneses Montoya
Maria is an undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is from Peru. Her parents are from Colombia, so she grew up with a mix of cultures between Peruvian and Colombian. Maria speaks Spanish as her native language and English as her second language. She is majoring in Communication Disorders and hopes to become a speech-language pathologist. When Maria heard about the BLD research lab in the Fall of 2022, she found it interesting and curious, so she decided to volunteer. She says that working with Megan Gross has been incredible because each day she learns something new! Maria is a creative person and a good listener. She enjoys listening to music, eating homemade food, and spending time with my friends and family.
Virginia Walker
Virginia is an undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She was born and raised in Boston, but Her parents were both born and raised in Puerto Rico. She first learned to speak Spanish at home and once she started going to school, she then learned to speak English. She is majoring in Communication Disorders and minoring in Psychology. She still does not know exactly what path she wants to go on, but when she first heard of this lab, she knew this was something that would give her a better idea on what kind of career she wants. She was interested in the way Spanish and English were both going to be used and was curious on what tasks were going to be done and how. She enjoys reading, drawing, painting, eating, and planning spontaneous trips with her friends.
Rudy Lucier
Rudy is a student at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst who will graduate in 2025 with majors in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and Communication. He grew up in Massachusetts and uses the Spanish he learned in high school in the lab. Rudy joined the team in June 2023 as a summer intern and enjoys using the ‘SALT’ program and practicing his Spanish in the real world. In the future, he hopes to attend graduate school in the West, surrounded by many mountains. Rudy’s favorite activities include rock climbing, watching movies, and riding his bike. His dream job is being a Speech Language Pathologist. With the knowledge he gains in the BLD lab, he hopes to travel to Chile for a semester and see how the field is different there, and of course, eat lots of sopaipillas!
Pam Alvarez
Pam is a post-baccalaureate student in the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Department at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. She has a B.A. in Russian from the College of the Holy Cross and worked as a teacher for several years. Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Pam moved to the Boston area at the age of nine. Her early experiences attending a French immersion school in Venezuela and immigrating to the U.S. instilled in her a lifelong interest in language learning and bilingualism. Pam hopes to become a bilingual speech-language pathologist. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling, and practicing yoga.
Arianna Marie Dumenigo
Arianna Marie Dumenigo is a post-baccalaureate student in the department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 2018, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from a prior institution in Psychology. She has recently begun at UMass Amherst taking prerequisite courses for her true passion of the field of Speech and Language Pathology. Her parents are from the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Venezuela. She was born and raised in Miami, Florida and grew up speaking both English and Spanish interchangeably. She has loved being at University of Massachusetts Amherst and has tried being involved with different clubs and organizations on campus as they relate to the field. She is currently a member of NSSLHA (National Student Speech Language Hearing Association) She is excited to be part of this lab and use her Spanish speaking skills and care for others to bring awareness and importance to both families and children in the community! Arianna loves spending time with friends, being in nature, meeting new people, cooking, and spending time with her labrador Cody in her free time.
Nancy Garcia
Nancy is a first-year Ph.D student in the department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She graduated Nazareth University in 2023 with a master’s degree in speech language pathology. After receiving a local specialization in autism through Nazareth, she became interested in learning about bilingual language development in that population. Nancy is particularly interested in community based partnerships, code-switching, and developing an understanding of cultural influences on the perspective of autism.
Sonia Carroll
Sonia is an undergraduate student at Smith College studying Linguistics and Education. She will earn her BA in 2024. Sonia joined the Bilingual Language Development Lab in June, 2023 and works on the LT2 study. She is excited to be a member of the team and to contribute to research that gives back to bilingual communities. Sonia has always had a love of languages and language learning, and she has been taking Spanish courses since she was young. She is passionate about sociolinguistics and bilingual education, and she is considering channeling these passions into a career as an SLP. Sonia is from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she enjoys spending time with her family and exploring the city on her bike. Outside of the lab and her academics at Smith, Sonia loves to sing, dance, and look at fields full of cows.
Sarah Corbin-Garant
A second-year student , Sarah is majoring in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences with a double major in French. From Montreal, Canada, she is a bilingual speaker herself. She hopes to become a medical Speech Language Pathologist, with work focused on bilingualism and aphasia. She is looking forward to working with the lab to learn more about Spanish-speaking communities. Language has always been at the center of her life, so Sarah can’t wait to compare and contrast her own foundations and development.
Alumni
Adriana Almeida
Adriana graduated in 2023 from the Speech-Language Pathology Master’s Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she also attended for undergrad. In 2021, she graduated from UMass Amherst, triple majoring in Communication Disorders, Spanish, and Portuguese. She strives to use her language skills as well as her knowledge of communication disorders to become a bilingual SLP in a medical or school setting after completing graduate school. Her passion for this field is driven by her experiences of growing up in a bilingual Portuguese-English family and working as a paraprofessional at the Early Learning Center in her hometown from 2016-2020. In her free time, Adriana loves traveling, exploring different cultures and cuisines, visiting art and history museums, attending plays/musicals, hiking, swimming, and spending time with her loved ones.
Thanh Nha Tran
Thanh Nha is an undergraduate alumna. She graduated in 2023 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, majoring in Communication Disorders while also double minoring in Biology and Psychology. She wishes to use her biology minor background to further help analyze children’s speech and language disorders through a scientific lens of the human body. In addition, she wishes to use her psychology minor to help provide more insight on counseling children with their social and cognitive skills. Personally, Thanh Nha is trilingual (English, Vietnamese, American Sign Language). She wants to use her diverse knowledge of language to provide more accessible care within the Vietnamese and Deaf communities. Outside of the classroom she was actively involved in Students to End Alzheimer’s Disease (SEAD), Vietnamese Student Association (VSA), Asian American Student Association (AASA), National Students Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA), and was a peer advisor for the Communication Disorders department. During her free time, Thanh Nha likes to watch movies, take photographs, hike, and spend time with her loved ones.
Bridget Tracy
Bridget is an undergraduate alumna. She graduated in 2023 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, majoring in Communication Disorders with a minor in Spanish. She also received a Spanish and Health Certificate. She is fascinated by the field of communication disorders and especially the development of bilingual communication in children. Bridget is interested in interacting with Spanish-speaking populations to further her skills and knowledge of the Spanish language. Bridget hopes to improve the quality of life for young children by becoming a certified Speech-Language Pathologist. Bridget loved being involved on campus and meeting new people. She was the President of the UMass Amherst NSSLHA chapter (National Student Speech Language Hearing Association) and an active member of UMass CHAARG (Changing Health Attitudes and Actions to Recreate Girls) where she served as a Small Group Leader and a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. In her leisure time, Bridget enjoys cooking, reading, traveling, drawing on her iPad, and learning American Sign Language. Bridget loves spending time with her friends and family.
Brenda Perez
Brenda is an undergraduate alumna. She graduated in 2023 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, majoring in Communication Disorders. Brenda discovered the field of Communication Disorders in her first year at UMass. She took an interest in the Speech-Language Pathology field. Having Spanish as her first language, she hopes to become a bilingual SLP and use her communication and language skills to work with children. Brenda was also involved in Bio-Sci (biological sciences association). Brenda loves spending time watching movies, cooking, and spending time with family and friends.
Maria Girardin
Maria graduated in 2022 from the Speech-Language Pathology Master’s Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she also received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders, and a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Spanish. During her undergraduate education, she completed an Honors Thesis within the Linguistics Department about treating pronoun usage deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder. Maria is working toward building the skills and knowledge she needs to assess and treat bilingual children in both English and Spanish as an aspiring Speech-Language Pathologist. In her spare time, Maria enjoys singing, dancing, cooking, watching Spanish movies, and learning ASL.
Johanna Salisbury
Johanna graduated in 2022 from the Speech-Language Pathology Master’s Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She graduated from Emmanuel College, where she studied Spanish and English literature, in 2015, and earned a Master’s degree in Linguistics from Trinity College Dublin in 2019. Johanna is interested in how bilingual children with and without communication disorders learn and use their languages. She completed a thesis investigating AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) teaching practices in Catalunya, a bilingual Spanish/Catalan region of Spain. In her spare time, Johanna enjoys learning languages, traveling, practicing aerial acrobatics, and cats.
Madeline Hoffses
Madeline is an undergraduate alumna. She graduated in 2022 from the Honors Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, double majoring in Communication Disorders and Spanish and minoring in Education. In her first year at UMass, Madeline thought she wanted to be an elementary school teacher. However, after talking with family and friends, she discovered an interest in the field of Speech-Language Pathology. As an SLP, Madeline will be able to blend her passion for speaking Spanish and her love of working with kids. Madeline completed her honors thesis with Dr. Megan Gross through the Español e inglés a la vez project. In her free time, Madeline loves volunteering in her community and spending time with family and friends.
Skylar Unger
Skylar is an undergraduate alumna. She graduated in 2022 from the Honors Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, majoring in Communication Disorders and minoring in Chinese. As an SLP, she hopes to work with Chinese-English bilingual children. Skylar completed her undergraduate thesis with Dr. Megan Gross through the Español e inglés a la vez project. Outside of Communication Disorders, Skylar was also involved in the UMass Minuteman Marching Band and was the president of the Adopted Student Advisory Panel (ASAP).
Kylie Dubé
Kylie graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Disorders and Spanish from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. During her time at UMass, Kylie was a member of the Commonwealth Honors College and had completed two honors independent studies while working as research assistant in the lab. Kylie also completed an honors thesis project with Dr. Megan Gross that investigated the language choices speech-language pathologists make when working with bilingual children who speak a language other than English at home. Outside of the lab, Kylie was a Comm Dis department teaching assistant, a coordinator of the Pal Project and is a Captain of Pulse Dance Team. She is looking forward to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and becoming a certified Speech-Language Pathologist.
Allison Root
Allison graduated in 2021 from the Speech-Language Pathology Master’s Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she also received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Disorders and Spanish. She is interested in the language development of bilingual children with communication disorders. Allison enjoys traveling, learning about other cultures, singing, and finding ways to get involved in her community. She hopes to incorporate these interests into her practice once she is a certified bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist.
Jo Kalucki
Jo graduated from the Speech-Language Pathology Master’s Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2021. She also received her Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish and Linguistics in 2017 at UMass Amherst. Jo has a background in adolescent special education and massage therapy, and has a special interest in linguicism and bilingual language development as a multilingual and multicultural person herself. In her spare time, Jo enjoys running and biking around the Pioneer Valley, cooking with local veggies, and advocating for social justice.
Lily Clemente
Lily is an undergraduate alumna who assisted in research in the BLD lab for two years from 2018 to 2020. She graduated with a BA in Spanish and a secondary major in Communication Disorders. Involved with the BLD lab during its incubation phase, Lily helped with many stages of the research, including data organization, language transcription and coding, and building authentic connections with local Spanish-speaking community members. Lily learned a lot in the lab, but she is most grateful for the experience with engaging questions of race and class within the academic research setting. Lily is passionate about language-learning and hopes to work in culturally diverse settings throughout her career. She will spend the year after her graduation volunteering with Americorps in a public high school for immigrants and refugees. Following that, she hopes to spend a year living in Latin America immersed in a new culture before returning to the U.S. for graduate school in a service-related career.
Masha Levit
Masha is an undergraduate alumna. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2020, double majoring in Communication Disorders and Public Health. She grew up in a Russian bilingual family, which is what fueled her interest in language. She pursued her honors thesis with Dr. Megan Gross on bilingual language development. Masha is looking forward to graduate school at Boston University and becoming a certified Speech-Language Pathologist. In her free time, Masha enjoys working out, reading, spending time at the beach, and listening to music.
Jiramis Gómez Guardiola
Jiramis is a graduate from the Springfield High School of Commerce. Being bilingual herself and having grown up learning both English and Spanish, she found the research the BLD lab was doing really interesting. Jiramis enjoys reading, drawing, and spending time with people she’s close to. She hopes to become an Illustrator so she can bring stories to life through drawing.