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Research in the Rotunda

Huge congrats to Lian Lewis for sharing her research in Madison this spring with Chancellor Dr. James Beeby and Governor Tony Evers!

UWL Undergraduate Research Symposium 2025

We are incredibly proud to highlight the achievements of Lian Lewis, who recently presented her research titled "The Role of Reverberation in Sound Localization and Word Recognition" at the UWL Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Her study investigated how reverberation influences sound localization and word recognition, specifically regarding cochlear implant (CI) simulation. While listeners with typical hearing rely on interaural time differences (ITDs) to localize sounds, reverberation can distort these essential cues, potentially complicating the experience for CI users.

To test this, Lian utilized CI-simulated speech with participants across three conditions: no reverberation (0 ms), early-arriving echoes (30 ms), and late-arriving echoes (80 ms). As hypothesized, preliminary findings indicated that late-arriving echoes significantly reduced localization accuracy. These results provide valuable insights into auditory processing and establish a strong foundation for future research on the impact of reverberation for CI users.

ongratulations on this excellent work, Lian!

Check out Mackenzie's MPA poster that she presented in Chicago!

Congrats on your MPA presentation, Serena!

This weekend I completed my first poster presentation at the Midwest Psychological Association conference in Chicago for my research in the Cognitive Hearing and Devices lab at UW-La Crosse! The project that I’ve been working on for the past eight months, “Advancing Cochlear Implant Diversity Through Socioeconomic Measures”, involved an online survey that I made, and it included many questions regarding hearing device users’ access to care and resources as well as their perceptions and opinions about their device(s). Although this study had its challenges, and we could only share data from five participants in the end, I learned so much while working on it. I am endlessly grateful to my mentor, Dr. Tanvi Thakkar, for all of her support and constant encouragements during this journey, and I want to extend a huge thank you to the WiSys Ignite Grant for the funds that made this project possible! -Serena Fincher

Published 4/15/25

Serena and Dr. Thakkar presented their study at the CI CRASH in Madison. This annual conference on cochlear implants brings together professors and student across the Midwest to speak on their research efforts and findings.

Published 11/8/24

Thank you to everyone who attended and organized our Community Hearing Day Event!

A special thank you to:

Our Speakers: Dr. Lindsay Hoffman & Dr. Sara Heaser
Our Team: Brooklyn Bohman, Lian Lewis, Jack Lecheler, and Mason Schuld

This event would not have been possible without your contributions!

We are so proud of the hard work you have done this semester, congratulations on all of your findings!

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