Research Experience

Graduate Student Researcher (Aug. 2022 — Aug. 2024)
School of Education, University of California, Irvine (Irvine, CA)
Principal Investigator and Mentor: Adriana Villavicencio, Ph.D.

Research-Practice Partnership with Internationals Network, a national network of 22 district-run public schools and 13 academies designed to serve immigrant English-learners.

• Supported a three-year cross-case comparative study of 8 Internationals Academies (IAs) located in four districts and regions, including Northern California, Southern California, New Jersey, and Virginia.

• Led bi-yearly field visits to study sites in Southern California.

• Conducted various forms of data collection, including semi-structured interviews & focus groups with school leaders, teachers, and other staff members;  and observations of teacher meetings and classrooms.

• Helped create and refine a qualitative codebook and code qualitative data in Dedoose.

• Mentored undergraduate students in qualitative methods.

• Disseminated our findings through academic conferences, public media outlets, and academic papers.

• Collaborated with research team conducting the impact analysis of the IAs to support broader mixed-method study.

Graduate Student Researcher (Aug. 2020 — Sept. 2022)
NIH BUILD PODER, California State University, Northridge (Northridge, CA)
Direct Supervisor: Patricia Escobedo, Ph.D.

• Worked on an undergraduate research training program for minoritized students in STEM, examining the experiences of 300+ students.

• Created, managed, and analyzed a longitudinal survey database administered to participants.

• Explored the qualitative responses and linked the patterns to the results of the quantitative survey portion, identifying program features that bolstered participants' scientific identity. 

• Work resulted in a second-author paper accepted to the Public Library of Science.

• Results indicated that undergraduate research experiences (UREs) implemented remotely and using a hybrid format can provide students with experiences similar to in-person URE programs. 

Graduate Research Assistant (Aug. 2020 — Aug. 2022)
Pathways C-Lab, Department of Psychology, California State University, Northridge (Northridge, CA)
Principal Investigator & Mentor: Gabriela Chavira, Ph.D.

• Investigated the educational experience of undocumented college students, examining how government policies (e.g., DACA, AB540) support this student population.

• Developed focus group protocols, conducted focus groups, and learned how to identify salient patterns within the qualitative data.

Post-Baccalaureate Researcher (Aug. 2019 — Aug. 2020)
Center for Mindfulness and Human Potential, University of California, Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)
Principal Investigator & Mentor: Michael Mrazek, Ph.D.

• Studied an intervention that used scientific research to help high school students focus their attention and manage their emotions. 

• Interviewed CA health teachers (30+), coded their qualitative interview data, and utilized these patterns to inform recruitment and study materials.

• Work resulted in co-authorship on a paper published in Education Sciences.

• Results indicated that online interventions could be a scalable way of addressing the rising rates of distraction and stress among teens.

Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan. 2019 - Aug. 2019)
LIME Lab, University of California, San Diego (La Jolla, CA)
Principal Investigator & Mentor: Emma Geller, Ph.D.

• Worked on a statistics learning experiment, examining how features of a statistical problem can be manipulated to reduce cognitive load. 

• Gained data entry and analysis skills by identifying specific statistical concepts within qualitative responses and quantifying the presence of these concepts.