Risa Stiegler

I graduated in 2021 from Carleton College with a major in Linguistics and a minor in Classics, and I have worked at the LLaMA Lab since November 2021.  At Carleton, I worked on the Dakota Language Project, researching the morphology and syntax of Dakota by working with Treasured Elders (native Dakota speakers) to preserve its linguistic features and help pass it on to the next generation of Dakota speakers.  I wrote my senior comprehensive thesis on the syntax of wh-questions (who, what, where?) in Dakota and the presence of intervention effects in wh-in-situ questions.  In the LLaMA Lab, I work on our long-term Toddler Word Learning Study, and I co-lead the play session transcription team to explore what kinds of words and structures children use in naturalistic language settings.  I am interested in child language development and what it can teach us about how our minds interact with language structures.  I love being a part of the LLaMA Lab and working with families to learn more about language!