I am investigating computational models for linguistic structures and processes, with application to language technologies and to the documentation of endangered languages. My current focus is on efficient query for databases of hierarchically annotated data. After completing a PhD on computational phonology at the University of Edinburgh in 1990, I worked on a series of European research projects and conducted linguistic fieldwork in Cameroon with SIL. In 1998 I moved to the University of Pennsylvania, becoming Associate Director of the LDC, and working on models and tools for linguistic annotation. In 2002 I returned home to Australia and established the Melbourne University Language Technology Group. In 2007 I was awarded the Kelvin Medal for excellence in teaching.
Key Activities: Coordinating first year Informatics; developing the Natural Language Toolkit; writing a textbook on NLP; leading the Language Technology Group; working on an NSF project on Querying Linguistic Databases; and editing Cambridge Studies in Natural Language Processing and the ACL Anthology.
Key Publications: Natural Language Processing in Python; Computational phonology: A constraint-based approach (Cambridge); A formal framework for linguistic annotation (Speech Communication); Seven dimensions of portability for language documentation and description (Language); Designing and evaluating an XPath dialect for linguistic queries (ICDE).