Our Team

Crow PIs work with a wonderful team of undergraduate and graduate researchers (below).

Principal Investigators

Headshot of Shelley Staples

Dr. Shelley Staples

is Professor of English Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at University of Arizona. Her research focuses on corpus analyses of speech and writing, particularly for applications to student writing. Her work has recently been published in journals such as Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Written Communication, TESOL Quarterly, and Applied Linguistics.

Headshot of Michelle McMullin

Dr. Michelle McMullin

is Assistant Professor of English at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on how attention to human, technical, and institutional infrastructures can help diverse groups of stakeholders respond to complex problems to build more resilient communities. She brings this work to Crow by working on grant funding, developing best practices, and researching the effectiveness of the team’s (digital and human) infrastructure through the lens of Constructive Distributed Work (CDW).

Headshot of Ola Swatek

Dr. Aleksandra Swatek

is a Lecturer in the Department of English at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. She obtained her Ph.D. in English / Second Language Studies program at Purdue University, where she specialized in writing research. Her projects encompass the areas of second language writing, corpus linguistics, and English for Academic Purposes.

Dr. Hadi Banat

is an assistant professor of English and the Director of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at UMass Boston. He is a co-PI of the Transculturation Pedagogical Research Group (writeic.org). He studies multilingual writing, intercultural competence assessment, infrastructure development in collaborative research teams, and writing program administration. His published works appeared in Composition Studies, TESOL Journal, Communication Design Quarterly, Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, and the Publications of the Modern Language Association.

Dr. Bradley Dilger

is Professor of English and Director of Writing at Purdue University. His research on writing programs, networks, and transfer has been published in the Journal of Business & Technical Communication, CCC, Writing Program Administration, and multiple edited collections. With Neil Baird, he is conducting a methodological study of the discourse-based interview. Bradley is a year-round bike commuter, husband of Erin, and dad to Madelyn and Amelia.

Dr. Randi Reppen

is Professor Emerita of Applied Linguistics and TESL at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff AZ. She uses corpus linguistics to better understand how language varies in different contexts of use, and how that can be used to inform materials development and instruction. Dr. Reppen is particularly interested in writing development. She has published numerous articles, chapters, and books, with recent publications in the International Journal of Corpus Linguistics and International Journal of Learner Corpus Research.

Team Members

Dilara Avci

is a doctoral candidate in Second Language Acquisition & Teaching program at the University of Arizona. She is the current Graduate Assistant Director of International Foundations Writing at the University of Arizona. She has taught English across diverse backgrounds and age levels, including K-12 and college-level Foundations Writing. Her research interests are second language/multilingual writing and teaching with a focus on teacher education, emerging digital technologies, and the application of innovative approaches such as genre pedagogy and corpus linguistics. She currently serves as the co-editor of the Journal of Second Language Acquisition and Teaching.

Bernard Brefo Cassie

is a doctoral student in the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching program at the University of Arizona. He holds an M.A. in TESL from the University of Arizona, as well as a B.A. in English and Political Science from the University of Ghana. He is currently a graduate teaching assistant in the University of Arizona’s Writing Program. His research interests include corpus linguistics, technology-enhanced language learning, and second language writing.

Dr. Nina Conrad

received her PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at the University of Arizona. She is a Design Researcher for Amplified by Design, a UX design consultancy based in Portland, OR. She enjoys drawing on her background as a writing instructor and researcher to conduct participatory design research with a focus on the role of language and content in the user experience. She also volunteers as instructor for an adult English conversation class.

Headshot of Dr. Anh Dang

Dr. Anh T. Dang

is a lecturer in English Composition and General Education at Old Dominion University. She recently defended her dissertation in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at the University of Arizona. She also had a Master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Arizona and a bachelor’s degree in English Linguistics Emphasis from Boise State University. Her research interests are second language writing, writing across the curriculum, writing with technologies, multilingualism with the focus on using multilingual resources to assist students in university composition courses, and corpus linguistics. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, watching Korean dramas and taking pictures of her cat, Miumiu.

Gözde Durgut

is a PhD candidate in the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) program, with a minor in Theoretical Linguistics, at the University of Arizona, and is also pursuing a Master of Science in Data Science. She holds an MA in TESOL and Applied Linguistics from the University of Alabama. Currently, she teaches First-Year Composition in the International Foundations Writing program, where she previously served as Graduate Assistant Director, supporting faculty, curriculum, and assessment across campuses. Her research focuses on AI literacy in higher education, corpus linguistics, computational approaches to educational data, and statistical modeling and data visualization for language and writing research.

Dr. Shaohua Fang

is the Ross-Lynn Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of English at Purdue University. He earned his Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2023. Dr. Fang’s research interests lie in psycholinguistics and second language acquisition, employing a range of methodologies, including experimental and computational approaches. At Purdue, he is involved in multiple collaborative projects with researchers from diverse fields, including our friends in the ExLing lab.

Mark Fullmer

is a Principal Software Developer/Analyst at the University of Texas at Austin. He has previously taught composition & creative writing at the university and community college levels, as well as internationally as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines.

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Dr. Wendy Jie Gao

is a lecturer at the College of Foreign Languages and Literature, Fudan University, Shanghai. Her research interests include language testing, L2 speaking assessment, and English for academic purposes.

Dr. Larissa Goulart

is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Montclair State University. Her research interests include second language writing and register variation. She earned her PhD from Northern Arizona University and has a MA in ELT from Warwick University. She also likes cats, tea, knitting and winning trivia.

Adrienne Henson

is a senior at North Carolina State University majoring in English with a concentration in literature and minoring in Rhetoric, Writing and Professional Communication. She has career interests in copywriting, editing and technical writing. In her free time she enjoys reading, journaling and going to coffee shops with her friends.

Chloe Hunt

is a senior at North Carolina State University majoring in English with a concentration in Professional Writing and Rhetoric and minoring in both Film Studies and Creative Writing. She is drawn to editing and strengthening her writing skills in any area she can get her hands on. Outside of her research interests, she spends her time watching movies, cooking, baking, and listening to music.

Jackie Hurlock

is a junior at Purdue University studying Professional Writing with a minor in Creative Writing. She is interested in copyediting or review writing as a future career. Beyond this, she enjoys art, gaming, longboarding, and watching television.

Alona Kladieva

is a PhD student in the SLAT program and a teaching assistant in English Composition at the University of Arizona. Her research interests include second-language writing, genre-based pedagogy and gameful learning. She taught General English and ESP to professional adults and helped students prepare for language proficiency exams in Ukraine. For fun, she likes reading books, listening to true crime podcasts and spending time outdoors.

Headshot of Ge Lan

Dr. Ge Lan

is an assistant professor in the Department of English at City University of Hong Kong. His research interests include corpus linguistics, register studies, second language/translingual writing, EAP/ESP, and generative AI and writing assessment. He has built a learner corpus of discipline-specific writing in Hong Kong for his funded project. He plans to merge this learner corpus to the Crow dataset after the completion of this project in 2026

Sara Leila

is a first year PhD student in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at the University of Arizona. She recently obtained a Master’s degree in Teaching English as a second language student at the University of Arizona. She received the Fulbright scholarship to teach Arabic at the University of New Hampshire in 2022/2023. She has also taught English as a foreign language for adults for 5 years in various contexts. Her research interests involve second language writing, corpus based pedagogy, intersectionality and technology enhanced learning.

Caroline Scheuer Neves

Caroline Scheuer Neves holds a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) and is currently pursuing a PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at the University of Arizona. Her research centers on the design and development of inclusive teaching materials, with a particular emphasis on pedagogical approaches that are critically informed. Drawing from asset-based frameworks, her work is attuned to the sociocultural and sociolinguistic dimensions of language education, aiming to create resources that engage with learners in multilingual and multicultural settings.

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Dr. Emily Palese

Is a graduate from the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) program at the University of Arizona. As the Associate Director of International Foundations Writing (IFW) and a Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona, her work includes curriculum development, instructional support, program assessment, and teaching courses within English Applied Linguistics. In her free time, she enjoys running, gardening, playing with her dogs, and caring for her pet goats and chickens.

Dr. Ji-young Shin

is Assistant Professor of Language Studies and Education Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Her primary research interests are language testing/assessment, corpus linguistics, educational technology, and research methodology. Ji-young’s research has been informed by her various professional roles as a former high school teacher, textbook writer, national exam writer, and national English writing curriculum developer.

Headshot of Ethan Simmelink

Ethan Simmelink

is a senior at Purdue University studying Professional Writing and Creative Writing with a minor in Computer Science. His career interests range from novel writing to technical writing to K–12 teaching. Whenever he is not working on his manuscript, he enjoys reading, watching Cleveland sports, and playing the occasional video game.

Hui Wang

is a Ph.D. student in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) at University of Arizona. She works as a Graduate Assistant Director and also Graduate Teaching Associate in the Writing Program, teaching Foundations Writing Courses at the UofA. Her research interests include second language writing, corpus linguistics, genre-based pedagogy, Technology-enhanced Language Learning (TELL), and teacher education. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, traveling and playing with her dog Denali.

Dr. Shelton Weech

is an assistant professor of technical communication at Utah Valley University. His research interests include technical and professional communication, environmental communication, science communication, and public rhetoric. He received his MA in American Literature from Brigham Young University in 2007 and his PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from Purdue University in 2023. He has also worked with Microsoft and the Microsoft Partner Network.

Dr. Wei Xu

is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Writing Studies, Second Language Writing, in the English Department at Northern Illinois University. Her research revolves around multilingual writing, rhetorical genre studies, and technology-assisted writing. She has published in such journals as Journal of Second Language Writing, Computers and Composition, Language Learning and Technology, Applied Linguistics, and Ibérica.

Dr. Ali Yaylali

is an assistant professor of education at Eastern Kentucky University. He earned his PhD in Language, Reading, and Culture (LRC) from the University of Arizona. Before starting his doctorate, he taught ESL and Turkish in the U.S. public schools. His academic interests include second language writing, corpus-based language pedagogy, content area and disciplinary literacy, transformative learning in teacher education, and educational discourses.

Former Crowbirds