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 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, including the mysteries of language change, why humans sound different from one another, 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. The common thread in my work is a view of living (and artificial) systems as dynamical systems.

Current research

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)

I am interested in supervising students in the following areas: (1) articulatory phonetics / vocal tract imaging / sound change; (2) laboratory phonology / articulatory phonology / task dynamics; (3) computational/mathematical modelling of articulation, sound change, language dynamics, etc; (4) creative approaches to interesting questions in speech research.

I am on a fellowship during 2024/25 and not currently teaching.