Undergraduate Students

Our undergraduate students work in the lab for credit or as volunteers and are vital to our lab functions. Undergrad RAs are trained on eye-tracking as well as electroencephalographic (EEG) methods. Our RAs assist in stimuli development, data coding and processing as well as collecting data and working with participants who come to the lab. If you are interested in becoming and RA, please email the lab manager (click here for contact info)

Alana Zigrossi

Alana is a first-year student majoring in Anthropology & Spanish, with a minor in Classical and Mediterranean studies. She joined the BrainTracking lab in the Spring of 2026 to explore how bilingualism affects the speaker’s native language and to strengthen her Spanish skills. After graduation, Alana hopes to work with immigrant communities to document the Mexican-American border crisis through ethnographic fieldwork

Emily Rini

Emily is a sophomore majoring in international politics and minoring in Spanish. She joined the lab in the spring of 2026 to and learn more about how the brain processes language and improve her Spanish. Emily is looking forward to learning more about the research and data collection process through hands-on learning in the lab. Outside of academics, Emily enjoys hiking, running, and cooking.

Ben Maalej

Ben is a senior majoring in Psychology and Spanish. He recently joined the BrainTracking Lab in the spring of 2026, due to his interest in bilingualism specifically within the Spanish language. Ben is planning to further his education by applying to graduate programs in psychology. Ben wants to use his knowledge of the Spanish language to increase the range of people he will be able to help as a psychologist.

Christina Ellis

Christina Ellis is a fourth-year student, majoring in Integrative Science and Spanish. Her academic interests focus on language, cognition, and research at the intersection of science and human development, with a long-term interest in pursuing a career in medicine. In Fall 2023, Christina conducted research, gaining experience in collaborative, internationally focused research. In 2024, she traveled to Granada, Spain, as a PIRE Fellow, where she developed her Spanish language proficiency and cross-cultural perspective. She is drawn to research that explores how language is processed, acquired, and shaped across diverse populations.

Lucia Huaman

Lucia is a second-year student majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders and minoring in ASL, and she hopes to become an SLP within a hospital setting. She started working in this lab during the fall semester of 2025 and has really enjoyed better developing her Spanish language skills and gaining research experience alongside other amazing lab members. She hopes to learn more about language acquisition and development and contribute positively to the lab's work and data collection!

Carolyn Newman

Carolyn is a 3rd year in the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State. She is studying Communication arts and Sciences and Spanish with a minor in Jazz Performance. Carolyn joined the Brain Tracking Lab Fall 2025 and has greatly enjoyed learning about how the brain processes language and expanding on her Spanish language skills. Outside of the lab she can be found playing saxophone with her band.

Isabella Bello

Isabella is a second-year student majoring in Communication Sciences & Disorders and Spanish, with a minor in Human Development and Family Studies. She joined the lab in Fall of 2025 to explore how the brain processes language, especially within bilingual contexts. Her academic interests focus on the intersection of linguistics, neuroscience, and language development. Isabella aspires to pursue a career as a bilingual speech-language pathologist working with children in medical settings.

Sara Balay

Sara is a fourth-year student majoring in Nutritional Sciences with a minor in Spanish. She has been a member of the Brain Tracking Lab since the spring of 2025. Sara has always been interested in language learning and in exploring how the brain navigates the boundaries between languages like Spanish and English. She is also fascinated by the overlap of nutrition and language learning, and how both can influence an individual’s overall health and cognitive well-being.

Rachel Leo

Rachel is a senior majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a minor in Spanish. She is excited to attend graduate school next year to study Speech-Language Pathology. Rachel joined the BrainTracking Lab in the fall of 2023, passionate about linguistics and eager to become involved in research. As a part of her PIRE project, she traveled to Puerto Rico to investigate inclusive language in second-language English. On campus, Rachel’s favorite activity is Harmony, an organization in which she works with adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Blanca Lizanne

Blanca Lizanne is a fourth-year Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major with a minor in Microbiology. She has been an active member since 2023 and participated in the PIRE program during the summer of 2024. Originally from El Salvador, Blanca enjoys watching movies, going on walks, and exploring topics related to language acquisition.

Former Undergraduate Students