Research Overview

I am senior lecturer in the Phonetics Lab, Department of Linguistics and English Language and Data Science Institute at Lancaster University. I am also associate editor at Journal of Phonetics. I was awarded my PhD in 2014 from the University of Sheffield.

My research investigates the dynamics of spoken language, such as how people coordinate movements of the tongue, lips and larynx to produce speech. I do experiments that monitor acoustic signals and vocal tract movements using sensors and imaging technology, and build computational models of the cognitive and physical mechanisms that underpin spoken language. I apply these insights to a range of longstanding scientific puzzles, such as the control of speech production, the mysteries of sound change, and how to improve the use of speech technologies in everyday life. In doing so, I draw upon theory and methods from linguistics, cognitive science, physics, and computer science.

I am currently working on the following projects:

• Interpretable acoustic-articulatory relations in speech production (Royal Society, 2025-27)
• Modelling the dynamics of phonetic variation & phonological change (AHRC fellowship, 2024-25)
• TARDIS: Targets and dynamics in speech (AHRC, 2019-23)