Dr. Barrière is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech Language Pathology at Saint Elizabeth University, New Jersey. She completed her PhD in Applied Linguistics at Birkbeck College at the University of London. She subsequently received training in Early Childhood Education (in Canterbury, UK), in Neuropsychology at Toulouse University and at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, and in Cognitive Science at Johns Hopkins University. Her research has been supported by numerous grant-giving organizations, both European, such as the UK ESRC, and American, such as the New York State Department of Education (NYS DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. Barrière is also a Research Associate of CUNY R(esearch) I(nstitute) of L(anguage) in U(rban) S(society) and she founded YVY Research Institute located in the largest Head Start program in NY.

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Dr. Jon Nissenbaum is an assistant professor in the Department of English at CUNY Brooklyn College. He earned his PhD at MIT, under the supervision of Noam Chomsky and David Pesetsky. Before joining the faculty at Brooklyn College, he held positions at Harvard, McGill, and Syracuse universities. His research has been funded by the NIH/NIDCD as well as the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Fonds de recherche du Québec Société et culture. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in linguistic theory at both introductory and advanced levels.

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Dr. Lafontant is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at CUNY Medgar Evers College, where she teaches courses in Child Development and Early Childhood/Special Education. She holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology from Yeshiva University, and a dual Master’s degree in Bilingual Special Education from Bank Street College of Education. Dr. Lafontant has enjoyed a multifaceted career which has encompassed teaching, student assessment, early intervention, staff development, and program evaluation. Her research activities have been primarily focused on program evaluation, and she is also very interested in the socio-emotional aspects of learning.