I research and design AI technologies that promote language and literacy development, STEM learning, and wellbeing for children and families. I completed my Ph.D. training in Language, Literacy, and Technology at the University of California Irvine.

My current research investigates the design and effectiveness of conversational AI technologies to serve as language partners and learning companions for children, and how AI affects children’s social interactions and developmental processes. In addition, I explore human-AI collaborative approaches to empowering education stakeholders to engage in the development of AI technologies for their specific needs and contexts.

I collaborate closely with children, families, educators, and community organizations to create media that is informed by and reflective of their values, practices, and linguistic and cultural assets. I partner with major organizations such as PBS KIDS, GBH Education, and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, and my research is funded by the National Science Foundation, Schmidt Futures, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

My work has been published in leading academic journals across psychology, education, and human-computer interaction, including Child Development Perspectives, Child Development, Computers & Education, and the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. I have received numerous best paper nominations and awards, and I am honored to be acknowledged as an Early Career Interdisciplinary Scholar by the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD).