Linguistics
Research Interests: My research interests lie with documenting, describing, revitalizing, and honoring the indigenous languages of the Americas, in particular, those of the Pacific Northwest, from which I hail. I want to continue pushing the field of linguistics in the realm of story-based, archival language description and revitalization. I am also interested in morphosyntax, semantics (in particular, spatiotemporal semantics), language change (historical or via language contact), and construction grammar.
Mentoring Experience: My experience as a graduate student mentor has been incredibly rich and rewarding. I already had an inkling that I wanted to be a mentor from my experiences in my undergraduate studies at the University of Oregon -- however, coming to UCSB really solidified that for me. I realized just how much of a difference I was making in the lives of all of my mentees. It is truly something special, seeing them grow and develop as junior scholars and as people. I am so incredibly proud of my mentees, and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for them!
Meaning of the Award: The Carol Genetti Graduate Mentoring award is incredibly meaningful to me. It brings with it a validation that my time and efforts have not been in vain. It tells me that my department, and the University as a whole, recognizes and honors my hard work and dedication. More than anything though, it serves a badge of honor and a reminder of the role that I wish to have for the rest of my life.