Alina Reznitskaya is a professor in the Educational Foundations department at Montclair State University. She has expertise in educational psychology, argumentation, and measurement, as well as decades of experience conducting research in elementary classrooms. Dr. Reznitskaya received research grants from the National Science Foundation, Spencer Foundation and the Institute of Education Sciences, in which she designed and evaluated instructional activities and assessment tools aimed to support teacher argumentation development.

Evgeny Chukharev is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and Technology at Iowa State University and Director of the Language Processing, Acquisition, and Change Laboratory. He holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Herzen State University in Russia and an M.S. in Computer Science from Arkhangelsk State Technical University. His research focuses on critical thinking, argumentation, natural language processing, and the use of artificial intelligence to support learning and communication. He is particularly interested in developing and evaluating AI-based tools that help people construct and evaluate arguments and improve communication skills.

Ariel Sykes brings over twenty years of experience as a dialogue facilitator to the team with a speciality in argument literacy and philosophical inquiry. She has worked in a variety of K-12 educational contexts as both teacher, trainer and administrator. Beyond her work in primary and secondary schools, Ariel has taught philosophy, critical thinking, research writing, english literature and education classes across several colleges in New Jersey and New York. Ariel holds an M.A. in Philosophy and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College.

Noriko Takahashi is a Ph.D. student in Human Computer Interaction at Iowa State University. She holds an M.S. in Computational Linguistics and a B.A. in Informatics. Her research focuses on natural language processing, human centered AI, and the use of technology to support writing, argumentation, and learning. She is particularly interested in developing and evaluating AI-based feedback systems that support how people learn, communicate, and interact with technology.

Julieanna Barron acquired her BA in Linguistics from Iowa State University and is currently pursuing her 2nd Bachelors in Speech and Hearing Sciences at Utah State University. During her time at ISU she worked in the PACE Lab as an Undergraduate Research Assistant, where she was introduced to and became familiar with the ArgCoach project. She was soon after brought onto the Montclair State University team as a Collaborative Research Assistant to help in the development of this project.

Elizabeth Carney is a doctoral fellow in the Teacher Education and Teacher Development program at Montclair State University. She has expertise in education technology, music technology, and music performance as well as decades of experience teaching classroom and instrumental music in public and independent schools. Helping teachers incorporate technology into their lessons is her passion. Ms. Carney received her post graduate certificate in Education Technology from Rutgers University and a Masters in Music Education from Lebanon Valley College. She most recently presented at the 2026 New Jersey Association of Independent School’s Technology and Innovation Conference.

Renee Dones is a Computational Linguistics graduate student at Montclair State University, where she also completed her undergraduate degree in linguistics. Her background includes research on politeness detection in NLP and prior experience contributing to an AI-powered web app, focusing on UI design and refining the user experience. Renee is drawn to work at the intersection of language and technology, and is excited to contribute to ArgCoach.