My research interests include first and second language acquisition, especially in bilingual populations. I spent 10 years as coordinator of the University of Miami Bilingualism Study Group in Florida, and continue to work and publish in the field from my new homebase in western Massachusetts. At UMass Amherst since 1998, I worked on African American English child speech, as Project Manager for the NIH supported DELV project, under Harry Seymour, P.I. The culmination of that project, the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation tests were published by Harcourt Assessments, Inc. in 2003 and 2005.
I also work part-time in the research area, the Office of Research Development (ORD) where I focus on projects to broaden the impact of science (Broader Impacts) and increase the representation of women and people of color in science and engineering.