Students Preparing for Academic and Research Careers (SPARC) Award Recipients
The SPARC Award is offered as part of ASHA's Strategic Objective to Increase Research Commitment. The goal of SPARC is to foster students' interest in the pursuit of PhD education and careers in academia in order to fill faculty/researcher vacancies in communication sciences and disorders (CSD).
It allows students to prepare for successful PhD education and exciting careers in research and teaching. The SPARC Award gives students an opportunity to participate in teaching and research with guidance from a mentor and travel to enhance teaching and research exposure. The SPARC has been awarded since 2004.
Check out this blog post from NSSLHA shining a spotlight on recent SPARC awardees! Awardees share why they applied for SPARC, offer advice for students considering the award, and describe their SPARC award activities and experiences.
2026 Recipients
Madeleine Brooks, Radford University
Primary Mentor: Vrushali Angadi, Radford University
Sophie Campa, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Primary Mentor: Georgia Malandraki, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Ellen Ailun Guo, New York University
Primary Mentor: Sudha Arunachalam, New York University
Selah-Marie Josephs, University of Washington
Primary Mentor: Kristie Spencer, University of Washington
Elise King, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Primary Mentor: Marie Channell, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Sam R. Landers, Emerson College
Primary Mentor: Kimberly Dahl, Emerson College
Nur Emielia Mohd Redzor, University of North Texas
Primary Mentor: Boji Pak Wing Lam, University of North Texas
Mia Parkes, University of Montana
Primary Mentor: Anooop Basavanahalli Jagadeesh, University of Montana
Natalie Schloss, The University of Iowa
Primary Mentor: Naomi Rodgers, The University of Iowa
Mollie Walters, The University of Texas at Austin
Primary Mentor: Srikanta Mishra, The University of Texas at Austin
Meredith Wood, Vanderbilt University
Primary Mentor: Cara Donohue, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Emma Xuedi Yang, Teachers College, Columbia University
Primary Mentor: Juliana Ronderos, Teachers College, Columbia University
Zoe Zhang, Purdue University
Primary Mentor: Arianna LaCroix, Purdue University
Previous Recipients
2025
Margaret M. Church, Vanderbilt University
Khi Ellison, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Xinyi (Cindy) Gao, Southern Connecticut State University
Brooke Harris, University of Cincinnati
Hannah R. Hogue, Illinois State University
Sophia Valentina Lopez, California State University, East Bay
Bailey Bennett Meyers, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Ainsley Perez, San Diego State University
Katherine Pribyl, The University of Iowa
Brenna Prunty, Radford University
Kendall Steer, Case Western Reserve University
Arissa Melaine Ventura, San Francisco State University
Elizabeth Walker, The University of Maine
2024
Julia Marie Albesa, Miami University
Jannabel Ameen, Florida International University
Michelle Catão, Duquesne University
Rocio E. Escobar, California State University, East Bay
Zabia Evans, Old Dominion University
Alyssa Hall, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Aethiopia Joseph Salmon, Howard University
Susan Lee, California State University, Los Angeles
Rebecca Pechmann, Western Carolina University
Gianna Ramirez, George Washington University
Anna Thanasi, Temple University
Netanya Tsang, Long Island University - Post
Shiao (Shannon) Xu, University of Washington
