Get to know a little about us!
Cynthia Lukyanenko
PALM Lab Director
Dr. Lukyanenko is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics and supervises the PALM lab. Her research focuses on how children learn about the structure of their native language and the connections between words, and how children and adults represent that structure and use it to help them understand sentences. Before coming to Mason, she studied Linguistics at the University of Maryland, earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and was a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Language Science at Penn State.
Graduate Research Assistants
Jordan Kidd
Graduate Research Assistant
Jordan is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics. Her main interests are in sociolinguistics, and computational linguistics. Outside of school, she enjoys exploring the city and photography.
Amy Lam
Graduate Research Assistant
Amy Lam is a PhD student in Linguistics. Her primary research interest is Language Acquisition. In her free time, she enjoys knitting (especially shadow, double, and brioche knitting) and listening to music. Some of her favorite pieces are BMV 1079, BMV 1080, KV 304, KV 478, KV 492 (the overture), KV 491 (the second movement), KV 626, Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 2 and Tchaikovsky’s string sextet Op. 70.
Pu Meng
Graduate Research Assistant
Pu is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics. She is interested in language acquisition (L1 and L2), phonetics, phonology, language and culture. Beyond the research, she is a Black Belt in Taekwondo and loves meticulous painting.
Janalyn Miklas
Graduate Research Assistant
Janalyn is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics. Her main research areas are phonetics, phonology, and language acquisition. In her free time, she likes to play with her cat Marvin and crochet.
Arlee Pearlswig
Graduate Research Assistant
Arlee is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics with a specific interest in morphosyntax and language documentation. Arlee is currently researching the pragmatic influences on word order in Akuzipik.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
None at the moment! Interested in joining the lab? Find out more on our For Students page
Lab Alumni & Former Research Assistants
Amal Alotaibi
Graduate Research Assistant 2021-2022
Amal Alotaibi is a fourth-year PhD student in the Linguistics program at GMU. She is interested in sounds and accents, and is fascinated by how individuals acquire languages and process them. This includes second language learners. She is happy to have the opportunity to work on amazing projects. In her free time, she plays games with her kids and enjoys music, reading and walking.
Norina Zeb
Undergraduate Research Assistant 2021-2022
Norina Zeb was an Undergraduate Research Assistant from Fall 2021 to Summer 2022. She graduated with a degree in Information Systems and Operations Management.