Hometown: Cottage Grove, Minnesota
Faculty mentors: Elizabeth Walker, PhD, associate professor, and Kellsie Busho, AuD, clinical assistant professor, audiology, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Degree program and anticipated graduation date: BA in speech and hearing sciences, May 2025

Brandon Alpers studies hearing loss in children. Specifically, he works with the Pediatric Audiology and Language Lab to test children who are 5-12 years old with confirmed unilateral hearing loss (i.e., hearing loss that only affects one ear) who use hearing aids. The goal of the research is to determine how kids perform with and without their hearing aids when completing language tests with background noise. Because the test isolates each ear, researchers can gauge how much each subject struggles when their stronger ear is receiving the target sentences versus their ear with hearing loss. This research is important because there is little literature focused on unilateral hearing loss, and thus, limited knowledge of how to determine effective forms of intervention for children with this condition.

Alpers plans to enter a Doctor of Audiology (AuD) program after graduation and become a pediatric audiologist that works in early intervention. As someone who was born with congenital unilateral hearing loss, he is enthusiastic about helping families with infants and toddlers that have confirmed hearing loss decide the best form of intervention for their family.

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