Valerie Browne graduated from West Virginia University with a double major in English and Russian studies and a minor in political science. As an undergraduate, she served as head research assistant for the West Virginia Dialect Project and was an intern Russian translator with Global Wordsmiths’ Language Access Project. Her research centers on the sociolinguistics of the post-Soviet space, exploring ways in which conflict and evolving national identities impact language choices in the region. Valerie is a two-time recipient of the Critical Language (Russian) Scholarship, participating in programs online and in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. She spent the 2022-2023 academic year in Krakow, Poland, teaching English and volunteering with Ukrainian refugees as a Fulbright English teaching assistant.