Lea Bauernfeind obtained her BA and MA from the University of Duisburg-Essen and has now returned to UDE to work on her PhD after successfully completing practical teacher training (Referendariat) and receiving her Second State Exam.

She is particularly interested in the ways in which speakers maintain or change in their linguistic patterns as they age, and the social factors influencing these changes. In her PhD research, she will investigate the malleability of phonetic variables across the lifespans of Tyneside English speakers.