Alyssa A. Adamec is starting her second year as an Au.D. graduate student at the University of Iowa. From Coralville, Iowa, Adamec grew up playing classical music, starting piano at age 3 and viola at age nine. She was taught using the Suzuki Method, which is a philosophy that applies basic principles of language acquisition to learning music. From her music experiences, Adamec has performed across the United States and around the world, including China, Europe and South America. She majored in both communication sciences and disorders, and music performance in viola from the University of Northern Iowa. While at UNI, she completed her research project entitled: “Noised Induced Hearing Loss for High String Players.” At the University of Iowa, while a full-time audiology student, volunteering and immersing herself in clinical experiences, Adamec has continued to perform by serving as principal violist in the University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra and the University of Iowa String Quartet Residency Program, which chose her to perform in the University of Iowa’s String Quartet Music Tour. As a result, Adamec has shared her unique story as a guest lecturer at the University of Iowa’s Freshman’s Passport Project and a panel member for the Iowa City Community School District’s Gifted Learning Project. She assisted in the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation and was selected to attend the Student Leaders in Audiology Conference at the 2017 AudiologyNOW! Conference in Indianapolis. This year, Adamec will also serve as secretary on the University of Iowa’s Student Academy of Audiology executive board. Adamec’s future goals following graduation include working full time as an audiologist and becoming an advocate for hearing loss prevention, mainly in musicians. She desires for all Iowa high school and collegiate level music programs to offer musician earplugs and receive the necessary resources to protect their future hearing. In addition, she hopes to continue performing in local orchestras and performance venues and earn her Suzuki Certification. Adamec’s capstone project will incorporate her love for music and audiology by working with the Suzuki Association of America to present a Healthy Hearing Presentation at the biannual Suzuki Conference in Minneapolis and Summer Institutes throughout the United States.

Andrew Nash is a third-year Doctor of Audiology student at Washington University in St. Louis. His clinical interests include adult hearing aids, comprehensive hearing evaluations, and vestibular assessment. He is passionate about increasing outreach and access to hearing health services via telehealth for rural community members, and providing training to geriatric caretakers on hearing technology; emboldening the qualities of evidence-based practice, patient-centered care, and treating each patient with the dignity and respect they deserve. Nash’s ultimate goals are to start a private practice, and remain involved in his local community by providing these services, increasing awareness of hearing health.

He has been the student representative on the executive board of the Missouri Academy of Audiology since 2015, helping volunteer at the state conference, SCOPE. Nash also is the student representative and program facilitator for the Center for Interprofessional Education, which includes Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, and Goldfarb School of Nursing. He also completed the T-35 NIDCD/NIH Short-Term Research Training investigating the biological clock’s influence on electrophysiological measures after noise over-exposure.

Bailey Tatge is a third-year audiology graduate student at the University of Iowa. She completed her undergraduate degree in communication sciences and disorders at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. She is currently the president of the University of Iowa’s Student Academy of Audiology (SAA) chapter, which hosts an annual Haunted Hustle for Hearing 5K run in October to raise money for individuals who have hearing loss but cannot afford to purchase hearing aids. This year, the University of Iowa SAA chapter received the SAA Humanitarian, Educational, and Awareness Resources (HEAR) grant from the American Academy of Audiology to assist in the development of the Haunted Hustle for Hearing 5K. In addition, Tatge participates in the University of Iowa’s Sound Awareness for Everyone (UISAFE) program and the National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association (NSSLHA).

Tatge also works as a research assistant in Dr. Elizabeth Walker’s Pediatric Audiology Lab, where she assists with data collection and analyzing in numerous projects including the Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss (OCHL) study.

She is currently in the process of applying for a fourth-year audiology externship. Upon graduation, Tatge hopes to work in a medical setting primarily with pediatric and cochlear implant patients. She also plans to actively participate in local outreach projects, including hearing loss prevention and education.

Emily Lundberg is a third-year Au.D. and Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado. Her current interests center around the perceptual responses to changes in signal processing in hearing aids and cochlear implants; specifically, binaural benefits in localization and listening in noise, improving music perception, and implications for signal processing in the aging population. Lundberg has served as president of her local Student Academy of Audiology Chapter and helped develop their musician’s earplug program where audiology students provide hearing tests and earmolds for custom hearing protection for music students. She is currently serving as the Communications Chair on the National Student Academy of Audiology Board of Directors. Upon graduating, Lundberg hopes to combine her clinical and research interests to improve signal processing and perceptual outcomes for older adults.

Jennifer Whittaker is a fourth-year Au.D. student at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and is completing her externship at the Nemours A.I. duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware. She is expected to graduate in May 2018. Whittaker’s interests include electrophysiology, auditory processing, and pediatric audiology. She is also passionate about professional development and has held several leadership positions including Vice President of her local Student Academy of Audiology (SAA) Chapter, Regional Delegate for the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association (NSSLHA) Executive Council, and Undergraduate Committee Chair for the SAA Board of Directors. She is currently serving as President of the SAA for the 2017-2018 academic year. Whittaker loves collaborating with other student leaders across the country and developing leadership within the student population. After graduation, she plans to work in a pediatric hospital setting as part of a team of audiologists. Throughout her career, she hopes to have opportunities to contribute to research that will better inform clinical practice and ensure patients receive care that is appropriate and evidence-based.

Sarah Camera is a third-year Au.D. and Ph.D. student at the University of Connecticut. Her participation in music ensembles throughout school brought her great appreciation for the human auditory system and drove her to pursue an education in audiology where she could learn more about disorders and treatment affecting it.

Camera is a member of the UConn Auditory Brain Research Lab (directed by Dr. Erika Skoe), which she joined as an honor’s undergraduate student. She is currently studying the effects of musical training and noise exposure on clinically-normal auditory systems. In summer 2016, she completed an NIH T35 Research Traineeship at Vanderbilt University under the direction of Dr. Linda Hood, during which she explored the feasibility of recording accurate auditory steady state responses (ASSRs) to stimuli presented at different frequencies through different audio transducers simultaneously. She has presented her research projects at local and national conferences.

Camera has held leadership positions including the Undergraduate Resources Sub-Committee Chair for the Student Academy of Audiology (SAA) and President of her university’s chapter of SAA. Serving on the undergraduate committee, Camera helped create new resources to increase undergraduate involvement in audiology. She is also dedicated to supporting undergraduates training as a classroom instructor in the speech, language, and hearing sciences department. Camera looks forward to continuing to contribute to audiology in numerous ways including advancing research, educating future audiologists in evidence-based and patient-centered practice, and being an inclusive clinician who will help her patients communicate effectively and live comfortably.

Bridget Shanahan
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Diane E. Cheek
University of Arizona

Paige Waddell
East Tennessee State University

Shae Morgan
University of Utah

Aimee Johnson
East Tennessee State University

Laura Gaeta
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Giau Le
University of Arizona

Maggie Schad
University of Cincinnati

Arun Joshi
University of North Texas

Laura Coco
University of Texas at Austin

Brittany Wallace
Washington University School of Medicine

Jordan Racca
University of Texas at Dallas

Margaret Barnett
University of Louisville in Kentucky

Anita Calwas
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Beth Harasha
Arizona State University

Sarah Hayes
University at Buffalo in New York

Stéphane Maison
Northeastern University

Alyssa Pursley
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Aniruddha Deshpande
University of Cincinnati

Sara DiStefano
Arizona State University

Kayla Howerton
University of Oklahoma

Lauren McGivern
Kent State University

Jodi Seligman
University of Texas

Richard Squires
University of Akron

Shruti Balvalli
University of Cincinnati

Carlee Cox
Kent State University

Ian Mertes
University of Iowa

Brittany Rinehart
University of Tennessee

Jennifer Stockwell
University of Texas

Sarah Weber
Idaho State University

Brittany Hensley University of Florida

Imola Major San Diego State University

Andy Lau Salus University

Jennifer Fowle University of Iowa

Alexandra Parbery-Clark Northwestern University

Lisa Dau Towson University

Andrea Fowler Vanderbilt University

Kristin Musser Washington University School of Medicine

Jessica Richardson A.T. Still University

Greta Stamper University of Kansas

Alison Brockmeyer Washington University School of Medicine

Ann Marie DePierro Montclair State University

Rachel Giacontiere Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center

Katherine Gibbons University of Florida

Kara Schvartz University of Maryland

Brittany Hensley University of Florida

Jonathon Whitton University of Louisville

Maureen D'Antuono University of Maryland

Kelli Wright University of Akron

Kelly Hoffard University of Maryland

Jacquelyn Baudhuin Washington University in St. Louis

Marguerite Dartt University of Texas at Austin

Jovana Diggs Arizona State University

Gretchen Magee University of Oklahoma

Jenny Miller University of South Dakota

Jay Aust University of Minnesota

Jerrica Kettle University of Iowa

Marissa Mendrygal University of Texas at Dallas

Rachel Scheperle Missouri State University

Susan Ternes University of Kansas

Rebecca Benjamin Lafayette, Indiana

Lauren Calandruccio Syracuse, New York

Tiffany Lynn Harvey White Marsh, Virginia

Victoria Lee Evanston, Illinois

Amber Reith Auburn, Alabama

Trevor Courouleau Edmond, Oklahoma

Sarah Friedman Rockville, Maryland

Jennifer Main New Brighton, Minnesota

Allison Paumen Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jennifer Vargo Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania