A Duke professor is the second-ever recipient of an early career award for her research on child linguistic development.
Elika Bergelson, Crandall Family assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience, received the Steve Reznick Early Career Award from the Cognitive Development Society in October. Bergelson was recognized for her research on how babies and infants learn language skills by interacting with their environments.
“It’s very flattering to receive this award from the Cognitive Development Society!” Bergelson wrote in an email to the Chronicle. “I certainly have supportive mentors and colleagues to thank for nominating me."
The award recognizes outstanding contributions by young scholars in the field of cognitive development, as well as their potential to become leaders in the discipline. The first person to receive the honor was Marjorie Rhodes, associate professor of psychology at New York University, in 2017.
This is not the first time Bergelson has been recognized for her work. In 2014, the National Institutes for Health presented her with the Early Independence Award, which came with a $1.25 million grant to further her research. The following year, she was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for science.
After she received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, she performed postdoctoral research at the University of Rochester for a year until she won the Early Independence Award. She soon became a research assistant professor at Rochester.
At Rochester, her lab led a study on the behavior and language processing of children: Study of Environmental Effects on Developing Linguistic Skills, or SEEDLingS. SEEDLingS was completed in July 2016, according to the study’s website.
That was just one month before Bergelson moved to Duke to take on a tenure-track faculty position from her non-tenure-track position at Rochester.
“Trees starting to bloom in late February around here didn’t hurt either,” she added.
Bergelson’s Lab, the BLAB, has now been at Duke for three years and has expanded to include three postdoctoral researchers, three graduate students and 11 research assistants, among other staff members. There are speakers of at least 10 languages working in Bergelson’s lab, she said, which is of particular use to a lab specializing in language development.
The lab’s current research is an extension of the work conducted for SEEDLingS, and for the first time, Bergelson will be teaching a Spring 2020 course related to her research called Cognitive Development.
Bergelson also makes a point of ensuring that those typically not represented in STEM fields have a place in her lab.
“Supporting underrepresented minorities in STEM fields is definitely a high priority for my lab,” Bergelson wrote. “We certainly don’t turn away anyone from any group systematically, but whenever possible try to incorporate diversity.”
Ara Wilson, associate professor of gender, sexuality and feminist studies, wrote in an email to The Chronicle that securing a position for women in research labs is key to challenging gender norms in the sciences.
“Having a senior woman scientist mentor junior scientists is a good step towards remedying the historical favoritism of men in the field,” Wilson wrote. “Having students see laboratories staffed by women scientists helps to transform the presumptions that one gender is more naturally at home in the sciences.”
Sophomore Madeleine Yancy became involved in the lab this fall through the Muser program, a service that lists available research opportunities at Duke. Although she is still on the pre-med track, the lab has changed her thinking about research.
“I definitely have been recently thinking more about a career in research than I previously had,” she wrote in an email.
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Nadia Bey, Trinity '23, was managing editor for The Chronicle's 117th volume and digital strategy director for Volume 118.