Our Team | GCLL

Meet The Team

Dr. Drew Weatherhead

Lab Director

Dr. Weatherhead is the director of the Cognition and Language Learning Research Group, and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University. She completed her PhD at the University of Waterloo, and her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on early language acquisition, and the factors that influence word processing.

Madison MacLachLan

Clinical Psychology MSc/PhD Student

I’m an MSc/PhD student in clinical psychology. I’m originally from northern Ontario and completed my BSc in psychology at the University of Ottawa. My research interests focus on developmental sociolinguistics and social cognition. I’m currently working on two new projects in the lab: one will explore how many languages infants expect others to speak, and the second will look at how prosocial information about speakers impacts preschoolers’ ability to understand accents. I look forward to working with the GCLL team and our community!

Jayce Phillips

Research Assistant

I am currently a 4th year student pursuing a BSc with Honours in Medical Sciences. I joined the GCLL due to a curiosity surrounding language acquisition and processing. My first research project with the lab examines how speaker race effects speech perception in adults. I am very excited to be a member of the team moving forward!

Ankana Boruah

Research Assistant

I am a psychology major, entering my third year this fall. Being highly passionate about language and child development since high school, I have always been curious and enthusiastic to delve deeper into the subject. My main interest revolves around the influence of different socio- cultural background on language development. I joined GCLL this spring and am thrilled to be working with this amazing team. In my free time, I love going out to watch sunsets, stargaze and re-watch Bollywood movies on Netflix.

Alexander Oxner

Research Assistant

I’m a second-year student majoring in neuroscience. I’ve always loved working with kids, and naturally developed an interest in children’s learning and development. I’ve always loved to read in my spare time and am also interested in children's understanding and usage of language. I will be working as a research assistant in the GCLL this summer and am excited to get started and learn more about the research process.

Ali Dyack

Honours Student

I’m a third year BSc student majoring in psychology. I have always been interested in developmental psychology and discovered a passion for language development this year. I love working with children and will be beginning my honours thesis in the fall.

Rebeka Workye

Lab Manager/Research Coordinator

Rebeka joined the lab as an undergraduate student with a love for research. Now she oversees the daily operations of the lab and can be a point of contact for any questions, comments, or concerns!

Contact Rebeka: rebeka@dal.ca

Alumni

Alex Ryken

Experimental Psychology PhD Student

I'm a PhD student in experimental psychology. I moved to Halifax from London, Ontario in 2017 for my MSc and in 2019 I started my PhD next door at the Language and Literacy Lab. I'm excited to be joining the GCLL for a comp project on speaker characteristics and phonological language patterns! Other research interests include speech rhythm, punctuation, and early literacy development. In my spare time I love to read, travel, and explore the city.

Emma Tupper

Honours Student

I am a fourth year BSc student majoring in psychology with a minor in sociology. These two areas of study have sparked my interest in childhood development and sociolinguistics. I have been a research assistant in the GCLL since the beginning of my second year and am completing my Honours thesis in the fall on the influence of speaker characteristics of toddlers' semantic learning.

Yara Yazbek

Honours Student

Yara completed her degree in psychology with a minor in English in 2023. She grew up in a bilingual home, and naturally became interested in bilingualism and early language acquisition. Her love of working with children drew her to the field of childhood development where she saw first hand how research becomes applicable in practice. Yara completed her Honours project in 2023, investigating how prosocial behaviours influence children's accent comprehension.

Jen Wareham

Honours Student

I am a fourth-year student majoring in psychology. Child development has always been an interest of mine, especially language development and bilingualism. I joined the lab this spring, and I'm so excited to be part of the GCLL team! I am looking forward to completing my Honours thesis this fall on language expectations which involves toddlers assumptions about unfamiliar people and how social aspects may affect this.

Caitlin Barry

Research Assistant

I’m a fourth-year psychology student with a minor in French. I’ve always been really interested in language and studying psychology has gotten me really interested in children’s language development. I joined the lab this winter and I love being a part of the team! I’ve loved learning about this research and I’m excited learn more as we launch more studies.

Sydney Keyamo

Research Assistant

Sydney is a fourth year student volunteering with the lab!

Cody Roy

Research Assistant

Cody is a recent graduate volunteering with the lab!

Jill Taylor

Lab Manager

Jill completed a BSc at Acadia University and worked with the GCLL as the research coordinator. Jill is currently completing a Master of Speech Language Pathology at Dalhousie University!

Abigail Greene

Honours student

Abby completed a BSc in Neuroscience at Dalhousie University in 2022. Abby conducted her Honours thesis research in the GCLL on the influence of social cues on learning language variation. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours Abby!

Collaborators and Friends of the Centre

Maria Arredondo, University of Texas at Austin

Shaylene Nancekivell, University of Manitoba

Katherine White, University of Waterloo

Ori Friedman, University of Waterloo

Janet Werker, University of British Columbia

Andrew Baron, University of British Columbia

COGNITION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING RESEARCH GROUP
@ DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

Meet The Team

Alumni

Collaborators and Friends of the Centre

Interested in Joining Our Team?

Contact Dr. Drew Weatherhead at Drew.Weatherhead@dal.ca