Students Preparing for Academic and Research Careers (SPARC) Award Recipients

It allows students to prepare for successful PhD education and exciting careers in research and teaching. The SPARC Award gives students an opportunity to participate in teaching and research with guidance from a mentor and travel to enhance teaching and research exposure. The SPARC has been awarded since 2004.

2022 Recipients

Haley E. Bouchard, University of Washington
Primary Mentor: Kristie Spencer

Jessyca Campos, New York University
Primary Mentor: Adam Buchwald

Joyce Chung, New York University
Primary Mentor: Tara McAllister

Danielle Hu, California State University, East Bay
Primary Mentor: Katrina Nicholas

Alyssa LaBine, Arizona State University
Primary Mentor: Ayoub Daliri

Cassandra Lopez, Indiana University–Bloomington
Primary Mentor: Raquel Anderson

Maryvi Morales, San Francisco State University
Primary Mentor: Teresa Gray

Aivy Nguyen, University of Washington
Primary Mentor: Gabriel Cler

Courtney Segool Wambach, Towson University
Primary Mentor: Casey Keck

Mary Vang, Oklahoma State University
Primary Mentor: Valerie Freeman

Jenna Maree Wong, California State University, Fullerton
Primary Mentor: Lisa Erwin-Davidson

Ivy Yen, New York University
Primary Mentor: Susannah Levi

Previous Recipients

2021

Meghan Baer, Emerson College
Victoria Bhardwaj, James Madison University
Melissa Bruce, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Emily Fisher, University of South Carolina–Columbia
Haley Hayashi, California State University, East Bay
Erin Hernon, James Madison University
Sarah Jones, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Allison Leslie, Marquette University
Darchayla Lewis, Hampton University
Gabrielle Monge, New York Medical College
Kendra Peffers, Michigan State University
Matthew Phillips, University of Connecticut
Favio Saabedra, Marquette University
Cassandra Stall, University of Cincinnati

2020

Briana Acevedo, Florida State University
Hannah Barton, Rush University
Isabella Carino, University of Oregon
Abbey Carlson, Rush University
Soundarya Daliparthy, University of Texas at Dallas
Danielle Marshall, Texas Christian University
Samantha Power, University of Wyoming
Mairin Srygley, Loyola University Maryland
Blythe Vickery, University of South Carolina

SPARC 2020 awardees accomplished the following select presentations and publications as a result of their SPARC participation.

Conference and Lecture Presentations

Acevedo, B. S., & Farquharson, K. (2021, November 18–20). Emergent literacy training for parents of children with hearing loss [Conference presentation]. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Washington, DC, United States. 

Barton, H., & Hoffmann, A. (2021, November 18–20) Complexity and fluency across language contexts in females with Fragile X syndrome [Conference presentation]. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Washington, DC, United States. 

Carlson, A., Husain, I., LaGorio, L., Wang, E., & Theis, S. M. (2021, November 18–20). Measuring thyrohyoid space with ultrasonography: A feasibility study [Technical research presentation]. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Washington, DC, United States. 

Cycyk, L., Carino, I., De Anda, S., & Batz, R. (2021, November 18–20) Maternal input to Spanish-speaking toddlers: Are there interactional or linguistic differences by child language status? [Poster presentation]. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Washington, D.C., United States. 

Daliparthy, S., DeFroy, A., Gajardo, S., & Rollins, P. (2020). Effect of verbosity in explaining growth in social skills in young children with autism. Proposal accepted at the Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, San Diego, CA (Convention canceled). 

Marshall, D., & Lund, E. (2021 April). Effectiveness of teletherapy for improving phonological awareness skills in preschool children with hearing loss [Poster presentation]. American Cochlear Implant Alliance Symposium for Cochlear Implants in Children, Dallas, TX, United States. 

Power, S., Kotlarek, K.J. (2021, April 30). A preliminary investigation of palatoglossus morphology in children using MRI [Poster presentation]. University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences Research Day, Laramie, WY, United States. 

Power, S., & Kotlarek, K. J. (2021, November 18–20). Morphology of the palatoglossus muscle using MRI: A feasibility study [Poster presentation]. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Washington, D.C., United States. 

Srygley, M. (2021, November). Tools and skills for the anti-racist facilitator [Virtual small group coaching]. Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD, United States. 

Srygley, M. (2021, August). Train the trainer sessions for anti-racism in speech-language pathology [Virtual lecture]. Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD, United States. 

Vickery, B., Fogerty, D., Alhstrom, J., & Dubno, J. (2021, February 20–24). Lexical Properties of perceptual errors made by younger and older adults listening to speech in multitalker babble [Poster presentation]. The Association for Research in Otolaryngology Annual Midwinter Meeting.