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Bell Testifies to Congress on Informal Science Learning

LIFE researcher Philip Bell served as a witness before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology’s subcommittee on Research and Science Education. Bell, who co-chaired the National Research Council’s Committee on Learning Science in Informal Environments, testified about informal science education a hearing examining the role of informal environments in promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning. The Science and Technology Committee has made STEM learning a top priority and is investigating how out-of-school experiences can promote engagement in the sciences and help attract more Americans to STEM fields.

Patricia K. Kuhl, Ph.D.

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The Bezos Family Foundation Endowed Chair for Early Childhood Learning
Co-Director of Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS)
Professor of Speech & Hearing Sciences
University of Washington

Dr. Patricia K. Kuhl is internationally recognized for her research on early language and brain development, and studies that show how young children learn. Dr. Kuhl’s work has played a major role in demonstrating how early exposure to language alters the brain. It has implications for critical periods in development, for bilingual education and reading readiness, for developmental disabilities involving language, and for research on computer understanding of speech.

Dr. Kuhl is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Rodin Academy, and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. She was awarded the Silver Medal of the Acoustical Society of America in 1997, and in 2005, the Kenneth Craik Research Award from Cambridge University. She received the University of Washington’s Faculty Lectureship Award in 1998, and in the 2007, Dr. Kuhl was awarded the University of Minnesota’s Outstanding Achievement Award. Dr. Kuhl is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Acoustical Society of America, and the American Psychological Society. In 2008 in Paris, Dr. Kuhl was awarded the Gold Medal from the acoustics branch of the American Institute of Physics for her work on learning and the brain.

Dr. Kuhl was one of six scientists invited to the White House in 1997 to make a presentation at President and Mrs. Clinton’s Conference on “Early Learning and the Brain.” In 2001, she was invited to make a presentation at President and Mrs. Bush’s White House Summit on “Early Cognitive Development: Ready to Read, Ready to Learn.” In 1999, she co-authored The Scientist in the Crib: Minds, Brains, and How Children Learn (Morrow Press).

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