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 Academia

Links:

Andrea's personal academic website: https://andreasanderm.netlify.app/
The Concordia Infant Research Lab:  http://infantresearch.ca/welcome

Get in touch:

e-mail: [email protected]
twitter: @IrenaLovcevic
instagram: @irenalovcevic
website: 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 Academia

Links:

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: [email protected]
twitter: @IrenaLovcevic
instagram: @irenalovcevic
website: 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 Academia

Links:

The MARCS Institute: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/marcs
Western Sydney University: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/

Get in touch:

e-mail: [email protected]
twitter: @IrenaLovcevic
instagram: @irenalovcevic
website: 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 Academia

Links:

Dr Pejovic's Lisbon BabyLab personal page: https://labfon.letras.ulisboa.pt/English/jovana_pejovic.htm
Lisbon BabyLab: http://labfon.letras.ulisboa.pt/babylab/english/index.html
The Phonetics and Phonology Lab (LabFon): http://labfon.letras.ulisboa.pt/english.htm

Get in touch:

e-mail: [email protected]
twitter: @IrenaLovcevic
instagram: @irenalovcevic
website: 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 Academia

Links:

Dr Brookman on the ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ruth_Brookman
The MARCS Institute: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/marcs
The MARCS BabyLab: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/babylab
Western Sydney University: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/

Get in touch:

e-mail: [email protected]
twitter: @IrenaLovcevic
instagram: @irenalovcevic
website: 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 Academia

Links:

Buffalo BabyLab: https://ubwp.buffalo.edu/babylab/
Buffalo BabyLab Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/buffalobabylab/
Follow Dr van Heugten on Twitter: @mvheugten

Get in touch:

e-mail: [email protected]
twitter: @IrenaLovcevic
instagram: @irenalovcevic
website: 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 Academia

Links:

Elon University: https://www.elon.edu/
Dr Thurman's Elon University faculty directory page: https://www.elon.edu/u/directory/profile/?user=sthurman2
Infant Development Lab: https://sites.google.com/elon.edu/infant-development-lab/home?authuser=0

If 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=0

Get in touch:

e-mail: [email protected]
twitter: @IrenaLovcevic
instagram: @irenalovcevic
website: 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 Academia

Links:

The MARCS Institute: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/marcs
Western Sydney University: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/
Macquarie Univeristy: https://www.mq.edu.au/

Get in touch:

e-mail: [email protected]
twitter: @IrenaLovcevic
instagram: @irenalovcevic
website: 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 Academia

Links:

Stacey's website: https://www.sesherwood.com/
Stacey's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SESherwoodAuthor/
Stacey's twitter: https://twitter.com/SE_Sherwood

Get in touch:

e-mail: [email protected]
twitter: @IrenaLovcevic
instagram: @irenalovcevic
website: 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 Academia

Links:

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: [email protected]
twitter: @IrenaLovcevic
instagram: @irenalovcevic
website: https://munduslibrium.com/