Undergraduate Students

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.