Language Data Scientist, Amazon Alexa AI
PhD in Linguistics, Cornell University
Hey there! I currently work as a Language Data Scientist at Amazon Alexa AI, based in Boston, MA. I received my PhD in Linguistics at Cornell University in August 2022, advised by Marten van Schijndel. My dissertation is titled Phonological Markedness Effects on Noun-Adjective Ordering.
Blake, Katherine. (2022). Phonological Markedness Effects on Noun-Adjective Ordering. Dissertation, under Drs. Marten van Schijndel (chair), Draga Zec, Abby Cohn, and Helena Aparicio.
Blake, Katherine. (2020). Phonological effects on noun-adjective ordering in Italian. Qualifying Paper, under Drs. Miloje Despic (chair), Marten van Schijndel, and Draga Zec.
Blake, Katherine. (2019). Effects of contrast articulatory precision on the realization of sibilants. Qualifying Paper, under Drs. Abby Cohn (chair), Sam Tilsen, and Draga Zec.
Blake, Katherine. (2022). Avoiding phonological markedness via word ordering in French and Italian. Talk at the upcoming 2022 Linguistics Society of America (LSA) Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C.
Blake, Katherine. (2020). Phonological markedness effects on noun-adjective word order in Italian. Talk at the 2020 Annual Meeting on Phonology (AMP). University of California Santa Cruz, Online.
Speaking of Language Podcast (2023). Amazon's Alexa.Katie Blake tells us how her Ph.D. in Linguistics from Cornell led to her work on Amazon’s Alexa AI, and takes us under the hood of the popular digital assistant.
I have several years of experience in instruction. During the semester I studied abroad in France (Spring 2015), I spent time helping local middle school students with their English homework and exam review at an after-school program for at-risk youth. At Indiana University during my undergrad, I was an instructor for a French conversation class offered to first- and second-year French students where I developed student-centered speaking activities geared towards improving their oral fluency. During that same semester at IU, I tutored other undergrads taking Dr. Kelly H. Berkson (my former advisor)'s Phonology class, helping them with problem sets, phonological theories, and exam review. Since coming to Cornell, I have been a Teaching Assistant for first year French (FREN1210, 1220) under the direction of Dr. Claire Menard. This past spring I was a TA for Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology, under the direction of Dr. Draga Zec. I taught two discussion sections, graded assignments, contributed to exams, and held office hours. Last fall I was the TA for Introduction to Linguistics, under the direction of Dr. Miloje Despić, and I managed all the online materials (Canvas, Zoom) and led a discussion section. Spring 2021 I was the TA for Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology again.