Project Assistants
Sharmaine Chee
Sharmaine Chee is an undergraduate student majoring in Speech and Hearing Science with a minor in Navajo at the University of New Mexico. She is born for the Sleeping Rock People and for the the Towering House People. Her maternal grandfather’s clans are Meadow People, and her paternal grandfathers are Red Running into the Water People. She is originally from Pine Hill, New Mexico. She is overjoyed to work at the Indigenous Child Research Lab as a research assistant. She is interested in phonology and morphology in the Navajo language.
Alec Goldberg
Alec is pursuing a MA in linguistics at UNM. His research interests are in the morphosyntax and semantics of the Navajo language. He is honored to work for ICLRC as a research assistant during his studies. As an undergraduate, he earned a BA in linguistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a BFA summa cum laude in art studio from UNM. He is originally from the Monterey Peninsula area of California.
Kaori John
Kaori is from Las Vegas, Nevada and is currently an undergraduate student majoring in Nursing and minoring in Navajo Language and Linguistics. Her clans are Bit’ahnii nilį́, Towołnii yáshichíín, Áshįįhí dabicheii, Tł’ááshchí’í dabinalí. Her future goal is to work as a nurse in a predominantly Navajo speaking community. She is grateful to work with the ICLRC as a research assistant!
Melanie Kirk-Lente
Melanie is from the Pueblo of Isleta and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from the University of New Mexico, where she is currently pursuing her Master’s degree. She is proud to serve as a research assistant for the ICLRC. Melanie is committed to applying the knowledge, skills, and experience she has gained under the guidance of Dr. Chee and her exceptional team to support her community in language preservation and revitalization.
Yazzmine Lee
Kayleigh Russell
Kayleigh Russell is an undergraduate student in the Signed Language Interpreting program with a minor in Navajo at the University of New Mexico. She is grateful for the opportunity to work as a research assistant for the Indigenous Child Research Center and the Lobo Language Acquisition Lab. Her interests are on Indigenous forms of signing, specifically Hand Talk. Kayleigh grew up in Kayenta, AZ and her clans are: Kinłichiinii nilį́, Bisaan éí yáshichíín, Tabąąhá éí dabicheii, Dideschiin éí dabinálí (she is Navajo and Chiricahua Apache).
Yiłnazbah Wauneka-Yellowhorse
Yiłnazbah is from Crystal, New Mexico. She is Áshįįhi born for Honágháahnii, her maternal grandfather is Tábąąhí and her paternal grandfather is Kinyaa’áanii. Yiłnazbah is an undergraduate student majoring in Native American Studies with a minor in Navajo at the University of New Mexico. She plans to become a Doctor of Psychology and is excited to continue learning the Navajo language for the paths of both academic and personal growth.
Former Project Assistants
Taye Johnson
Taye Johnson is an undergraduate student majoring in Management Information Systems at the University of New Mexico. She is born for the Sleeping Rock People and the Bitter Water People. Her maternal grandfather’s clan is Towering House People, and her Paternal grandfather’s clan is the Mexican clan people. Taye is originally from Pinehill, New Mexico. She is grateful for the opportunity to work at the Indigenous Child Research Lab as a research assistant. Her interests include the Navajo Language.
Devin Lansing
Devin Lansing éí Bit’ahnii nilį́igo Bilagáana yáshchiin. Kinłich’íinii da bicheii dóó Bilagáana da binalí. Devin is from Coyote Canyon, NM, but attends the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, NM. He works at the UNM Navajo Language Program, assisting with curriculum and course development. Devin is also a substitute teacher pursuing a special education degree. Devin is passionate about connecting the younger generation of Diné with the importance of K’é, Saad, Nanitin, and Oodlą’.
Cormac League
Cormac League, originally from the Los Angeles area, received a BA in Linguistics from the University of Southern California and is pursuing an MA in Linguistics at the University of New Mexico. As a researcher in the Indigenous Child Language Center, Cormac is interested in the prosody of child directed speech in Diné Bizaad and other languages with vowel length distinction and lexical tone.
Bethany Lycan
Bethany Lycan is a PhD student in the Department of Linguistics at UNM. She is originally from Southern California and went to California State University Long Beach for her MA in Linguistics. Her interests are in morphosyntax, typology, and language revitalization.
Ryan D. Smith
Ryan D. Smith is a PhD student in Linguistics at the University of New Mexico. His research focuses on the cognitive and physiological relationship between gesture and speech. He is also interested in cognitive and language development in children, and conducts research on child gesture development for ICLRC. He was born in Albuquerque and grew up in Los Ranchos.
Seth Wyatt
Seth Wyatt, a final-year Linguistics MA student at the University of New Mexico, is proud to work as a research assistant for the Indigenous Child Language Research Center. Originally from Slidell, Louisiana, Seth earned his BA in linguistics and language applications with first-class honours from City University of Hong Kong. His research interests lie primarily in phonology, variation and diachrony among tonal languages of the American Southwest and Asia-Pacific regions.
