CASL People

Scott Weems

These days, University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language (CASL) researcher Scott Weems studies the cognitive process of language learning and comprehension—but he began his adult life in a very different way, on the Cutter YOCONA, a Coast Guard vessel stationed in Kodiak, Alaska. Every other month, he and his shipmates would brave the perilous Bering Sea to check the safety equipment on local fishing boats. After two years in Alaska, Weems embarked on an educational adventure that took him to New Orleans, Boston and Los Angeles, earning master's degrees in education and psychology. However, while living in Los Angeles, he realized that his true passion was the study of language. He enrolled in the doctoral program at the University of California at Los Angeles and decided to investigate the cognitive process of word recognition. Here, he learned to use the electroencephalogram (EEG) to study brain waves, now his main research tool.

Armed with a Ph.D., Weems accepted a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Maryland with neurologist and computer scientist James Reggia. Two years later, Weems "couldn't believe his luck" when he heard the University of Maryland partnered with the U.S. Government to develop the University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language, a top-notch language research center right in College Park. Weems was hired in August 2005 and now works on two key projects. Together with Michael Bunting, he is investigating the cognitive factors that are critical to government foreign language analysts on the job. "We don't know a whole lot about what makes somebody good with a foreign language," Weems explains. "We want to help identify those factors and how we can help people work better in that kind of environment." In order to do this, the researchers use EEG technology to monitor brain activity as foreign language professionals complete job-related tasks. Weems is also the principal investigator for a study on deception, another area of enormous interest to national security professionals.

Weems, who began his career enforcing safety rules on the high seas, is thrilled to be researching language problems that are of critical importance to the security of Americans. "I think what drew me to CASL, especially since I do have some military background myself, is that I really appreciate the mission," says Weems. "The job of CASL is to try to improve the nation's language-based security...we really are helping people."