Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences Summer 2026 Newsletter
Hello, SLHS Community!
We hope this newsletter finds you all doing very well in the midst of summer! SLHS has had some major accomplishments by our faculty and students over the past few months, and we are excited to share some of these highlights with you.
You can read about the work of the newly minted Dr. Eugene Wong, who studied under Mx. Benjamin Munson. Dr. Wong’s dissertation examined the impact of social influences on children’s speech imitation. Through his work, we are able to better understand the multifaceted development of children’s speech.
We are also excited to introduce you to our newest academic faculty member, Dr. Samantha Stiepan. Dr. Stiepan is an audiologist and a hearing scientist. One of her main areas of research is focused on better understanding Ménière’s disease, which includes symptoms such as fluctuating hearing loss, vertigo, tinnitus, and aural fullness.
Learn about Dr. Melissa Polonenko's exciting new and extremely innovative work piloting the use of audiobooks to evaluate children's hearing loss. She will be using the Center for Applied and Translational Sensory Science's (CATSS) new mobile health unit to collect data across the state!
You also won’t want to miss learning about Dr. Kerry Witherell’s leadership with the Special Olympics this summer, where she led a team of students to support the athletes across nine 12-hour days. We are beyond impressed by her dedication to provide audiology screenings to the athletes and her service as the clinical director for Special Olympics Minnesota’s Healthy Hearing program!
I hope you enjoy learning about each of these exciting accomplishments. After some summer rejuvenation, I am looking forward to see what the 2026-27 academic year brings!
Thank you for your continued support!
Liza
Lizbeth Finestack
Professor and Chair
Grad student Eugene Wong examines how social awareness drives language learning. His research bridges sociophonetics and clinical practice to support diverse learners.
Read "Improving Support for Diverse Learners: Eugene Wong on Social Factors in Language Learning"
CLA welcomes Samantha Stiepan to the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences. Dr. Stiepan aims to develop more precise ways to identify where and why hearing loss occurs. She hopes to move beyond standard hearing tests and create a future where hearing disorders can be caught earlier and treated with greater accuracy.
Read "Samantha Stiepan: A Lifelong Fascination With The Nuances of Hearing and Hearing Loss"
Audiology professor Melissa Polonenko is working to bridge a major gap in audiology research: how can we tell how a child hears speech?
Read "How Audiologists are Detecting Hearing Loss in Children Through Audiobooks"
A mobile sensory health unit is hitting the road to bring free hearing, speech, and vision screenings to underserved communities across Minnesota.
Read "See, Hear, MN: CATSS Announces a New Mobile Sensory Health Unit"
During the 2026 Special Olympics taking place on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, grad students of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences are providing hearing evaluations and learning in the process.
