I am Jessica (ella/she/her), an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I received my Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics and Language Science from Penn State University in 2024. I'm a first-generation scholar from Puerto Rico, la isla del encanto. I study language at the intersection of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics, drawing on a strong foundation in teaching, research, and community-based fieldwork. 

Beyond academics, I enjoy traveling and learning about new cultures and languages. I have visited countries in Latin America, North America, Europe, and Africa. My unique tradition when I travel is to buy postcards that I never send and bookmarks --- which I do make a point of using!

Most of the time, though, when I'm not in the lab or coding data, you can find me reading a thriller, dancing, or cooking.

My work combines two main areas: understanding how people process language in their minds (psycholinguistics) and how language varies and functions in different social groups (sociolinguistics). I'm especially interested in how people make sense of what they hear, considering that real-life conversations occur in noisy, ambiguous, and variable contexts. 

I'm also curious about how people's social backgrounds influence how they use and comprehend language. A key aspect of my work is exploring how literacy (i.e., being able to read and write) affects the way we process language. I combine lab and field methods to get a fuller picture of how linguistic and social factors work together in shaping language use and comprehension across different communities.