Jacqueline McCurdy
Jacqueline McCurdy graduated in 2023 from the SLHS program at CU Boulder. She completed research on the production of speech aerosols under different vocal conditions (loud, whisper, etc.), which has implications in aerosol transmission of disease. Her research doesn’t directly apply to her current position, but she has applied it on a personal level. For instance, she knows that ventilation in a small room will matter if she’s working with a patient on loud speech, so she will have the door open or use a small air purifier to help disperse speech plumes created during sessions. She also avoids spaces with lots of people talking with little to no ventilation to stay healthy (or she wears a mask).
A "first'' for her was presenting her research at a conference! In October of 2023, Jacqueline presented her thesis research at the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA) Symposium.
Jacqueline's largest piece of advice for undergraduate students is to find the intersection of your curiosity and passion with the field of speech.