Melody Schwenk
melodyfschwenk.bsky.social
Melody Schwenk
@melodyfschwenk.bsky.social
Ph.D candidate 🧠
@nationalacademies.org thank you for having me! See you in March!
November 13, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reposted by Melody Schwenk
👋 Researchers at Gallaudet University and Northeastern University are seeking participants for a study of ASL learning. Our study will ask you to sign about a few different topics. Participation takes about 30 minutes, and you will be paid $15.

Part 1/
November 11, 2025 at 8:14 PM
What an honor to have gone from desperately seeking funding to having a NIH F31 and NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship two years later. I’m still in shock
September 16, 2025 at 5:56 PM
The symposium on deaf children with cochlear implants linguistic development was refreshingly not negative! I finally don’t feel guilty about being deaf and appreciative of hearing technology (and weirdly excited about being able to get my CI after I defend?!) #SNL2025
September 13, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Woohoo! I finally got a conference award ribbon! #SNL2025
September 12, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Today I found … 👀 @orioles.com
September 7, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Finding a Labubu is hard. Joining our study? Way easier! Help us understand spatial cognition + get paid for your time! Sign up here: bit.ly/f31_nav #Research #Cognition #PaidStudy
August 20, 2025 at 5:02 AM
How does language shape the way we think about space? 🧠🦬
Take part in my Ph.D. study on spatial cognition & ASL.
~45 min online (US adults 18+), optional EEG in DC. $25/hour for your time!

bit.ly/f31_nav

#Neuroscience #ASL #ResearchStudy
August 13, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Just spend ~16+ hours reworking my dissertation study setup (same tasks just different way to deliver them!) and I think the thing I’m most proud of is that I learned how to add screen reader capabilities to the online version of my behavioral tasks. Accessibility!
August 10, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Can you travel through space & time?(cognitively, of course 😉)
Join our study on language & navigation. Start online now; DC/NoVA/MD folks can add a short EEG visit later.
Sign up: bit.ly/f31_nav
#Deaf #ASL #PaidStudy #DC #EEG
August 9, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Hobby collecting baseball cards is more stressful than:
1) Recruiting participants for my dissertation while managing a skull fracture
2) Labubu drops
3) Getting Eras tour tickets

It only took 45 minutes of refreshing to get the Bob Ross collectors box. I have now survived several wars.
July 31, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Just had one of those ‘what-if’ afternoons where a coffee, a Statcast spray chart, and a brain wired for spatial cognition collided. What if every ballpark had a signature landmark (think Home-Run Apple, Green Monster, or the new Camden LF wall) mapped into a player’s mind before they ever took BP?
July 15, 2025 at 11:38 PM
As a present to myself after fracturing my skull I got a Labubu monster. I somehow ended up with a secret one after a random rest stop purchase!
July 7, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Spatial cognition?
Decision-making under pressure?
Ball tracking?

That’s Apollo’s job. I just run the models.

(Yes, that’s a custom Mets jersey. No, I don’t have chill.)

#Mets #MLB #NFL #DataNerds #SpatialCognition #Neuroscience
March 31, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Paredes path to home was … WHY DID YOU MAKE THAT ARC. I am not a base runner or Astros fan but … that less less than optimal base running dude. Time to recalibrate those grid cells in his hippocampus

#neuroscience #LGM
March 27, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Big thanks to @jasonthemanson.bsky.social for our meeting and helping me think through practical applications of my work beyond traditional grant contexts. Excited to keep pushing forward! Baseball <— spatial cognition <—> NIH
March 26, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Might run 10k simulations in The Show.
Might work on my manuscript.
Who knows!
(I am doing both. Obviously.)
March 25, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Just a spatial cognition girly with a dissertation about maps and ASL fluency… getting a reply from Sig Mejdal after asking about batting strategy.

Not to be dramatic, but the assistant GM of the Orioles emailing back cognition just might be the highlight of my PhD.

I’m fine. (Omg!)
March 22, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Me: asks ChatGPT to check my writing and find the error in my latex
ChatGPT: I will edit it! It will sound robotic!
Me: I just wanted you to check my latex brackets… please. I am tired.
March 19, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Geeking out over someone at @mets.com searching for me on LinkedIn.

I need some fresh air. Some peanuts and cracker jacks maybe.
March 18, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Ever think about how expertise actually changes the brain? I probably spend too much time think about this myself.

My dissertation focuses on ASL fluency, spatial cognition, and EEG markers of neural adaptation—but honestly, the same principles apply to sports.
March 18, 2025 at 6:59 PM
We categorize hitters by power & plate discipline, but what if we used cognition instead?
Not all hitters see the game the same way. Some are pattern predictors, others rely on reaction speed, some use spatial navigation.
Let's talk about a new way to evaluate hitters. (🧵)
March 16, 2025 at 1:56 AM
My dissertation 🤝🏻 @jasonthemanson.bsky.social

N2 is so cool (but I’m so fascinated with N2pc!) and frontal activity! How do I join you and do this work?!?!?! EEG meet baseball is my dream come true!
March 15, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Whenever I need a short reprieve from working on my dissertation proposal I do spatial reasoning skill and player decision making in baseball analyses as a side project. I essentially move from one project on navigation to another and wonder why everything blends together. #PhDLife
March 12, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Thrilled to join the 2025 SABR Analytics Conference (virtual) via MLB’s Diversity Pipeline!

Excited for:
🔹 Minnesota Twins Club session (3/6)
🔹 SABR workshop (3/13)

Grateful to MLB & Tyrone Brooks for growing my analytics expertise. #SABR2025 #BaseballAnalytics
March 6, 2025 at 5:12 PM