Women in Academia

Today it's great to have Andrea Sander-Montant on the podcast. Andrea is an M.A. student at Concordia University in Montreal Canada, under the supervision of Dr. Krista Byers-Heinlein at the Infant Research Lab. Andrea is interested in developmental psychology with a special focus on early language development and bilingualism. Listen to this episode to hear more on how being raised in bilingual family influenced Andrea's exciting research on bilingualism as well as Andrea's great insights on the culture of Academia, with the specific focus on the female researchers' place in that. Time stamps:[00:45] Andrea's introduction[02:01] Andrea's research journey[04:07] Obstacles that Andrea faced in her research journey[08:04] Work/life balance[11:39] Andrea's research on word comprehension in bilingual babies[14:28] Plans for future research[18:59] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Andrea[23:06] Andrea's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:Andrea's personal academic website: https://andreasanderm.netlify.app/The Concordia Infant Research Lab:  http://infantresearch.ca/welcomeGet in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Dr Monica Barbir on the podcast. Dr Barbir is the Postdoctoral Researcher at the International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN) BabyLab, University of Tokyo. She is interested in the cognitive mechanisms that make learning language easy for babies but hard for adults. Her goal is to innovate novel language learning methods that would ultimately allow adults to learn language as well as babies. Dr Barbir studied language acquisition at the University of Toronto and the Ecole Normale Supérieure, taught English as a foreign language with the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Programme, and designed novel tools for learning language during her MA in comic book design. Listen to this episode to hear more about  Dr Barbir's amazing research, great insights regarding the issues women face in Academia, and wonderful advice for everyone regardless of career choice.Time stamps:[00:49] Dr Barbir's introduction[01:24] Dr Barbir's research journey[06:09] Obstacles in research journey[11:56] Work/life balance[17:42] Dr Barbir's research on grammar[26:47] Hopes for future research[28:55] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Dr Barbir[32:40] Dr Barbir's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:Dr Barbir's website: https://monicab.net/IRCN BabyLab: https://babylab.ircn.jp/en/International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN): https://ircn.jp/en/The University of Tokyo: https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/Science-based information about language learning in childhood in form of comics: https://kotoboo.org/Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Dr Celia Harris on the podcast. Dr Harris is the Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow in Cognitive Neuroscience, based at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour, and Development, Western Sydney University. She completed her PhD at the Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, in 2010. In her PhD research, she studied ways of extending laboratory paradigms to study social aspects of memory in ecologically valid ways. Dr Harris's research focuses broadly on memory, and particularly on autobiographical memory - memory for life events. She is interested in how memory retrieval can be supported by the external environment, including tools, technologies, and social interaction. She aims to better understand memory retrieval processes in order to develop new ways of making remembering easier. Dr Harris is the recipient of the 2020 Young Tall Poppy award that is awarded for the science communication. Listen to this episode to hear more about  Dr Harris's amazing research, tricks to use time wiser, and great advice for everyone thinking or starting a career in Academia.Time stamps:[00:46] Dr Harris's introduction[02:16] Dr Harris's research journey[03:58] Obstacles in research journey[05:42] Work/life balance[09:09] Dr Harris's research on memory[10:04] Applying research findings into practice[11:28] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Dr Harris[13:27] Dr Harris's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:The MARCS Institute: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/marcsWestern Sydney University: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/ Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Dr Jovana Pejovic on the podcast. Dr Pejovic is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Lisbon BabyLab. She completed her PhD studies in 2019 at the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) in San Sebastian, Spain, with a thesis on the development of audiovisual speech processing in monolingual and bilingual infants. Listen to this episode to hear more about Dr Pejovic's research journey, her research on the audiovisual speech processing in infants, and on the challenges that female researchers face in Academia.Time stamps:[00:48] Dr Pejovic's introduction[01:10] Dr Pejovic's research journey[03:21] Obstacles in research journey[05:12] Work/life balance[07:52] Dr Pejovic's research on the role of bilingualism and visual cues in infant speech perception[10:00] Plans for future research[11:27] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Dr Pejovic[15:04] Dr Pejovic's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks: Dr Pejovic's Lisbon BabyLab personal page: https://labfon.letras.ulisboa.pt/English/jovana_pejovic.htmLisbon BabyLab: http://labfon.letras.ulisboa.pt/babylab/english/index.htmlThe Phonetics and Phonology Lab (LabFon): http://labfon.letras.ulisboa.pt/english.htmGet in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Dr Ruth Brookman on the podcast. Dr Brookman is an Associate Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Technology and Ageing at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University. She recently completed her PhD at the MARCS, examining depression and anxiety in the postnatal period with specific focus on the examination of maternal speech, the mother-infant interaction and infant developmental outcomes. The overall aim of this research was to examine the speech of depressed and anxious mothers to determine the effects upon infant attachment and developmental outcomes over time. This has clinical implications regarding early identification of at risk mothers, their infants and focus points for early psychological intervention with the mother-infant dyad. While completing the PhD studies, Dr Brookman also completed the Masters in Clinical Psychology. Listen to this episode to hear more on how to manage the two challenging degrees at the same time, while balancing the family life, and the great tips for thriving in Academia and life.Time stamps: [00:49] Dr Brookman's introduction[01:11] Dr Brookman's research journey[03:52] Obstacles in research journey[07:47] Work/life balance[12:37] Dr Brookman's research on depression and anxiety in the postnatal period and its effect of maternal speech and infant language development[16:11] Dr Brookman's work in research program aimed at developing new assistive technologies to enhance quality of life in dementia care[18:59] Plans for future research[20:04] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Dr Brookman[24:39] Dr Brookman's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:Dr Brookman on the ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ruth_BrookmanThe MARCS Institute: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/marcsThe MARCS BabyLab: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/babylabWestern Sydney University: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Dr Marieke van Heugten on the podcast. Dr van Heugten is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology and Director of the Buffalo BabyLab at the at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. She completed her B.A. and M.Sc. at Radboud University in the Netherlands before moving to Canada where she received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. She then held a postdoctoral position at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, France. In August 2015 she started her position at the University at Buffalo. Dr van Heugten's research focuses on when and how children learn to comprehend spoken language. Specifically, she explores how children (learn to) recognize words from fluent speech, how they (learn to) process the relationships between words in a sentence, and how they (learn to) take into account information from the environment during language processing to better understand the message. Listen to this episode to hear more about Dr van Heugten's research on language processing in infants and children, Dr van Heugten's research journey, and on the challenges that female researchers face in Academia.Time stamps:[00:41] Dr van Heugten's introduction[00:57] Dr van Heugten's research journey[02:47] Obstacles in research journey[05:02] Work/life balance[06:05] Dr van Heugten's research on language processing in infants, toddlers and children[09:07] Plans for future research[10:04] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Dr van Heugten[11:13] Dr van Heugten's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:Buffalo BabyLab: https://ubwp.buffalo.edu/babylab/Buffalo BabyLab Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/buffalobabylab/Follow Dr van Heugten on Twitter: @mvheugtenGet in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Dr Sabrina Thurman on the podcast. Dr Thurman is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Elon University and Director of the Infant Development Lab. She received her B.A. degree in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Dr Thurman studies how infants acquire new motor skills, postures, and forms of locomotion, and how infants learn to use their bodies for manipulation and exploration of their environments. She is interested in the role of caregivers in those processes. She also studies the development of reaching, intermanual coordination, and hand preference. Dr Thurman also teaches courses in early childhood development and lifespan development, and mentors students in independent research. Listen to this episode to hear more on Dr Thurman's research journey from being the first person in her family to attend the college to being the Professor and Lab Director.Time stamps:[00:45] Dr Thurman's introduction[02:19] Dr Thurman's background[04:49] Obstacles that Dr Thurman faced in her journey to Academia[08:28] Work/life balance[12:38] Dr Thurman's research on impact of learning new motor skills on infants' behaviour[15:52] Plans for future research[17:17] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Dr Thurman[19:01] Dr Thurman's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks: Elon University: https://www.elon.edu/Dr Thurman's Elon University faculty directory page: https://www.elon.edu/u/directory/profile/?user=sthurman2Infant Development Lab: https://sites.google.com/elon.edu/infant-development-lab/home?authuser=0If you are interested in participating in Dr Thurman's study on Parental beliefs about infant motor development and infant motor behaviours check this link: https://sites.google.com/elon.edu/infant-development-lab/current-projects/pb-mdmohab?authuser=0Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Dr Julie Beadle on the podcast. Dr Beadle has completed her PhD at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University. Her PhD thesis was focused on cognitive ageing and hearing under difficult circumstances. Specifically, she investigated how cognitive processes such as attention and memory are used when the elderly try to perceive speech in difficult listening circumstances, as well as how and when visual cues may aid understanding. Currently, Dr Beadle is Postdoctoral Researcher at Macquarie University, where she continues her research in Ageing and Hearing Loss. Listen to this episode to hear more on how passion for research brought Dr Beadle from Canada to Australia, how we hear with our ears, but listen and understand with our ears and brain, and why you should plan the plan, but not plan the outcome. Time stamps:[00:44] Julie's introduction[01:41] Julie's background[06:20] The challenges of being international student[07:44] Work/life balance[11:24] Julie's research on ageing and speech perception in noise or "We hear with our ears but listen and understand with our ears and our brains"[17:45] Plans for future research[19:35] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Julie[21:15] Julie's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:The MARCS Institute: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/marcsWestern Sydney University: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/Macquarie Univeristy: https://www.mq.edu.au/Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Stacey Sherwood on the podcast. Stacey has now completed her PhD at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University. Stacey's PhD thesis is focused on the relationship between language and society. Specifically, she investigated the way people learn and use language to construct identities, stances and personas. By conducting an experimental series of production- and perception-based studies across two languages, Japanese and Australian English, Stacey found evidence to suggest that our beliefs mediate our prior language experience and thus shape the way we position ourselves in our communities. Notably, while doing her PhD, Stacey also made the time to write science fiction novels, and she has recently accepted an offer of representation with the Carolyn Jenks Agency. Listen to this episode to hear more about how writing fiction motivated and energised Stacey during her academic journey, and how you can find time to follow your passions even when undertaking something as time consuming and challenging as a PhD project.  Time stamps: [00:43] Stacey's introduction[01:13] Stacey's journey from being graphic designer to doing the research in linguistics [04:32] Obstacles that Stacey have faced in her research journey[08:46] Work/life balance[10:58] How Stacey wrote the PhD thesis and the sci-fi novel at the same time period[15:13] On receiving the feedback and constructive criticism from others[16:05] Stacey's team of test readers as an important part of the writing process[22:26] Stacey's research on the relationship between language and society[25:36] Plans for future research[27:02] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Stacey[28:49] Stacey's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:Stacey's website: https://www.sesherwood.com/Stacey's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SESherwoodAuthor/Stacey's twitter: https://twitter.com/SE_SherwoodGet in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Prof. Dr Sho Tsuji on the podcast. Dr Tsuji is the principal investigator at the International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN) BabyLab, University of Tokyo. She is fascinated by the question of why babies are so good at learning language. She came to University of Tokyo after studying Psychology and doing research on language acquisition in Germany, the Netherlands, France, and the USA. Listen to this episode to hear more about Dr Tsuji's research on language acquisition in infants, work on overcoming replication crisis in psychology, and on the challenges that female researchers face in Academia. Time stamps:[00:46] Sho's introduction[01:09] Sho's background[02:12] Obstacles in research journey[04:21] Work/life balance[06:01] Sho's research on language acquisition in babies and young children[07:42] Plans for future research[09:50] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Sho[11:55] Sho's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:IRCN BabyLab: https://babylab.ircn.jp/en/International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN): https://ircn.jp/en/The University of Tokyo: https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/Sho's blog: https://cogtales.wordpress.com/Science-based information about language learning in childhood in form of comics: https://kotoboo.org/Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Jenny Zeng on the podcast. Jenny is a PhD student at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University. Jenny's PhD thesis focuses on the infants' cue weighting in speech and music rhythm perception. Stress-timed languages contain lexical stress that is made up of relative stronger cues such as pitch, intensity and duration, which listeners use to segment/group information, and the perception of which is dependent on the rhythmical nature of the language or languages they are learning. English is a stress-timed language, for which lexical stress is used to convey meaning, whereas Mandarin is syllable-timed language which does not differentiate meaning through lexical stress. Similarly, in music, the perception of rhythm is through accentuation (stronger over weaker beats) that is also characterised by cues such as pitch, intensity and duration. Given the similarity across the two domains, Jenny's project examines if early (preverbal infancy) experience with richer language rhythmicity has a positive transfer effect in the music domain, and to what extent the processing of speech rhythm and music rhythm are similar/different. To facilitate accurate and timely measurement of responses to multiple cue-weighting, Jenny is using EEG to measure infants’ responses at the neural level. To hear more about this research and Jenny's research on cognitive advantage of bilingualism, listen to this episode.Time stamps:[00:46] Jenny's introduction[01:26] How experience and knowledge gained while working as a translator inspired Jenny to start her research career[02:41] Obstacles that Jenny faced in her research journey[05:00] Work/life balance[07:40] Jenny's research on cognitive aspects of bilingualism and multilingualism[09:11] Jenny's research on speech and music rhythm perception[19:11] Plans for future research[19:57] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Jenny[20:29] Jenny's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:The MARCS Institute: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/marcsThe MARCS BabyLab: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/babylabWestern Sydney University: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/Australian Linguistic Society: https://als.asn.au/National Taiwan University: https://www.ntu.edu.tw/english/Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Dr Christa Lam-Cassettari on the podcast. Dr Christa Lam-Cassettari is a Researcher in Infant Studies at the MARCS BabyLab, Western Sydney University. She investigates quantitative and qualitative differences in infant-directed speech (IDS) and the role of IDS in supporting early language development. Her main interests are investigating social-emotional and language development in children from 0-5 years of age, without or with hearing loss. Other research interests include differences in parent-child interactions with mothers and fathers, the effect of postnatal depression on parent-child communication and emotional expression, and the role of family centred early interventions in improving child outcomes. Beside being a researcher in infant studies, Christa is also proud mum of two wonderful boys. To find out how she manages her research and family life, working on multiple grants and having collaborators from oversees, and to hear more about Christa's research, listen to this episode. Time stamps:[01:01] Christa's introduction[01:18] Christa's background[02:42] Obstacles that Christa have faced in her research journey[09:28] Work/life balance[14:50] Christa's research on infant-directed speech (IDS) and its effects on infants' language development[18:54] Plans for future research[21:06] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Christa[22:40] Christa's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:The MARCS Institute: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/marcsThe MARCS BabyLab: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/babylabWestern Sydney University: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Maddie Radnan on the podcast. Maddie is a PhD student at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University. Maddie's PhD thesis focuses on the Time Travelling with Technology (TTT), which is a technology-based program for promoting relationships and engagement in aged care. TTT is an immersive, dynamic and interactive interface that utilises Google Liquid Galaxy to explore worldly landmarks and locations. In an aged care facility, TTT will be utilised as a platform for technology driven reminiscence therapy. It will give residents the opportunity to travel to both significant and insignificant locations. Maddie's research aims to explore how TTT impacts the level of engagement of residents and influences the relationship between resident and staff members of three different aged care facilities. Besides being PhD student, Maddie is also Student Representative on HDR Committee Council for MARCS and member of the Research Continuity Studies Council at Western Sydney University. To find out how she manages all these roles, why it is important not to lose the passion for research and teaching, and also to hear more about Maddie's research on TTT, listen to this episode.Time stamps:[00:53] Maddie's introduction[01:26] From neurophysiological research on animals to research with older adults[03:12] Obstacles that Maddie faced in her research journey[05:05] Work/life balance[07:50] Maddie's research on Time Travelling with Technology (TTT)[11:33] Plans for future research[12:57] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Maddie[15:43] Maddie's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:The MARCS Institute: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/marcsWestern Sydney University: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Dr Marina Jovic on the podcast. Marina is an Assistant Professor at The American University of the Middle East, Kuwait. She completed her PhD studies at the University of Belgrade, Serbia on "Pragmaticalization of modal verbs could and would in English language from 1800 until present day". Since being from warn torn country, Marina has faced and has successfully overcame many challenges on her journey to Academia by being persistent and never giving up. Listen to this episode to learn more about Marina's inspiring story.Time stamps:[1:00] Marina's Introduction[1:38] Marina's journey from the High School teacher in Serbia to the Assistant Professor in Kuwait[3:51] Obstacles that Marina faced in her journey to Academia[6:13]  The importance of surrounding oneself with positive and supportive people[7:40] Marina's research in the field of the Historical Pragmatics[9:18] Plans for future career[10:04] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Marina[11:07] Marina's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:The American University of the Middle East: https://www.aum.edu.kw/University of Belgrade: http://www.bg.ac.rs/en/Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Yanping Li on the podcast. Yanping is a PhD student at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University. Yanping's PhD thesis focuses on effects of high versus low variability training on second language acquisition of Mandarin tones. In this study two training methods (high vs. low variability) are being examined to evaluate which approach will better assist native English speakers in learning Mandarin tones by taking accented Mandarin tones as the phonetic variability. Word and tonal categorisation are collected to observe the effects of these two perceptual training methods. This is the first project that attempts to aid native English speakers with learning Mandarin tones in words based on regionally tonal variations. To find more about this exciting research, but also to learn more on challenges in doing PhD abroad, and why strong motivation is important on research journey, listen to this episode.Time stamps:[1:08] Yanping's Introduction[2:56] Growing with five older sister as a motivation to attend the University[5:23] Yanping's journey from a Master's student in China to a PhD student in Australia[13:05] Strong motivation and hard work as tools to overcome any obstacle on research journey[18:47] Work/life balance[27:32] Yanping's research on training the native English speakers in learning Mandarin tones[29:52] Plans for future research[33:32] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Yanping[49:25] Yanping's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks:The MARCS Institute: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/marcsChinese government scholarship:  https://www.chinesescholarshipcouncil.com/Chinese learning scholarships at Beijing Language and Culture University:  http://admission.blcu.edu.cn/en/2020/0227/c1217a2037/page.htmFulbright China: https://eca.state.gov/fulbright/country/china  Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Gloria Maria Pino Escobar on the podcast. Gloria is a PhD student at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University. Gloria's PhD thesis focuses on bridging the gap between domain-general cognitive processes and word learning in monolingual and bilingual children. The results of the present study will demonstrate individual language learning strategies that can be used to leverage vocabulary learning in a tailor-made fashion. Before coming to Australia, Gloria worked as a lawyer in Peru, however, raising two bilingual kids in multilingual country such as Australia inspired Gloria to switch her career and start her research journey in bilingualism. Beside being a proud mum of two wonderful kids and PhD student, Gloria is also a Research Assistant, University tutor, and Certified Professional English-Spanish interpreter. How she manages all these roles, you can hear in this episode. Time stamps:[1:11] Gloria's Introduction[1:44] Gloria's journey from the lawyer in Peru to the researcher in Australia[7:14] Obstacles that Gloria faced in her research journey[14:02] Tips on doing research while prioritising family time and finding time for yourself[20:24] Gloria's research on the roles of cognitive skills (i.e. executive function) and language experience and background on word learning in children[29:15] Plans for future research[31:53] Issues that women in Academia are facing today according to Gloria[38:50] Gloria's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks: The MARCS Institute: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/marcsThe MARCS BabyLab: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/babylabWestern Sydney University: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/International Association for the Study of Child Language Conference: https://iascl2020.com/Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

Today it's great to have Emily Tan on the podcast. Emily Tan is U.S. Postgraduate Fulbright Research Fellow at MARCS BabyLab, Western Sydney University, where she conducted research on the role of lullabies in infant language development. Prior to visiting MARCS, Emily served as a research assistant in Dr. Elizabeth Spelke's infant studies laboratory at Harvard University, where she cultivated an appreciation for developmental methods and research questions. Emily's current areas of interest are early language acquisition and word segmentation in young infants, with a focus on the different mediums through which infants are able to segment novel words. Emily is particularly interested in this domain as it has translational implications for parent/caregivers populations. Emily also has a background in music and enjoys both singing and classical piano in her spare time.Time stamps:[1:10] Emily's introduction[3:31] Emily's background[7:01] Obstacles that Emily faced in her research journey[11:01] Work/life balance[15:04] Emily's research on the role of lullabies in language development[22:15] Plans for future research[25:32] Advice on how to apply for the Fulbright scholarship[30:45] Issues that women in Academia are facing today[33:52] Emily's advice for everyone thinking about a career in Academia or for those just starting a career in AcademiaLinks: Fulbright USA: https://us.fulbrightonline.org/#&panel1-3Fulbright Australia: https://www.fulbright.org.au/Fulbright Serbia: https://rs.usembassy.gov/fulbright-visiting-scholar-program-competition-academic-year-2020-2021/Fulbright Japan: https://www.fulbright.jp/eng/Get in touch:e-mail: podcast.irenalovcevic@gmail.comtwitter: @IrenaLovcevicinstagram: @irenalovcevicwebsite: https://munduslibrium.com/

The special episode in which podcast's host Irena introduces herself and the idea behind the podcast.