People

Gabriela Rojo, or  Gaby or Rojo was born in Inglewood, California (near LA), but raised in St. Louis. She is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in PNP on the Language Cognition and Culture track and am minoring in Speech and Hearing. She is a first-generation student and bilingual. She has always been fascinated with language and  reading. She tutors students at a local elementary school to help them with their reading and writing skills. Her favorite hobbies include crocheting and reading. 

Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Haniah is an undergraduate student majoring in Psychological and Brain Sciences, with a minor in Marketing. Her younger brother’s time in school made her interested in learning more about language development in children. She enjoys watching hockey and reading.

Veronica is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Psychology and Environmental Studies on the pre-med track. She’s from North Carolina, but her parents immigrated to the United States from Ukraine and Russia. Her bilingual upbringing inspired her to learn more about linguistics. She enjoy learning new languages, and her other hobbies include cooking, baking, and being outdoors.

Jayde is a fifth year graduate student from Phoenix, New York, and completed her bachelors at the University of Rochester in Linguistics and Brain & Cognitive Science. Before joining the Reading and Language Lab, she was the lab manager of the Infant Studies Lab at the University of Notre Dame. Her research focuses on the patterns preschool and kindergarteners’ use in their early writing, especially before they are “good” spellers. When Jayde isn’t in the lab, she can be found romping around Forest Park with her dog, finding delicious food in St. Louis, reading novels, or watching movies.

Kayla is a third-year graduate student from Sahuarita, Arizona. She graduated with a bachelor’s in Psychological and Brain Sciences with minors in Linguistics and French from WashU in 2021. Her masters investigated linguistic factors that influence lexical stress, and she is currently looking at morphology and multisyllabic words. When she is not in the lab, she is cuddling her cat, Friday, hosting game nights with her friends, reading, or learning to book bind.

Lydia, originally from Joplin, Missouri, completed her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and minor in Diversity at the University of Washington in Seattle and recently graduated from Boston University with her master’s degree in Psychology. She is interested in how early life environmental factors, particularly during the perinatal period, shape developmental outcomes. Outside of the lab, she enjoys exploring new cities, camping, and spending time with her husband, Lucas, along with their dog, Mango, and kittens, Fern and Forest.