2024 Cohort
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Area
HDiC Research Interests
Culturally-Sustaining Interventions, Latine Children's Socio Emotional Development, Playful Learning, STEM learning, Prosocial Behaviors Vertical Divider
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Kelsy is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education, specializing in Human
Development in Context, and holds a B.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in Anthropology from UC Irvine. She was a post-baccalaureate coordinator for the Digital Learning Lab where she gained extensive research experience working with bilingual children and families, and researched the use of conversational agents in children’s media to foster STEM learning. As a doctoral student, she plans to build upon her experience with Latine communities to investigate culturally sustaining, strength-based interventions that promote children’s STEM learning and socio-emotional development. |
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Area
TLEI Research Interests
Educational Data Science, Algorithmic Bias, Fairness, Learning Analytics, Natural Language Processing Vertical Divider
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Jaeyoon is a Ph.D. student in Education specializing in Teaching, Learning, and
Educational Improvement (TLEI). Prior to attending UC Irvine, she received an M.S. in Learning Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and B.As in Education and Statistics at Korea University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of learning analytics, natural language processing, and algorithmic bias. She is interested in using machine learning and natural language processing to deepen our understanding of student learning behaviors, while identifying and mitigating algorithmic biases for equity. |
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Area
HDiC Research Interests
Children's Media, STEM Education, Marginalized Communities Vertical Divider
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Aria Gastón-Panthaki is a Ph.D. student in the UCI School of Education's HDiC
concentration. Aria holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Minor in Theater from Trinity University. During undergraduate, Aria studied verb learning, food insecurity, and mental health in undocumented populations. Their next stage took them to Harvard University to study metal and physical health in teenagers in Dr. Kate McLaughlin’s Stress and Development Lab. It was not until they attended SRCD that Aria discovered a passion for educational research of children’s media. They believe that the media children consume, especially at a young age, has great impacts on children’s lives, beliefs, and motivations. Aria plans to research educational children’s media and how to make it more developmentally beneficial. They plan to investigate and create media to encourage a love for STEM and lay the foundations for STEM learning in Latinx children. |
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Area
HDiC Research Interests
Academic Motivation, Sociocultural Context, Career Choices, Minoritized Students, Academic Persistence, Educational Equity Vertical Divider
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Miranda Goldstein is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education specializing in
Human Development in Context (HDiC). She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine, and her M.A. in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas, Austin. Miranda’s primary research interests center on how socializers, particularly parents, influence students’ academic motivation and career choices. She is specifically interested in studying the effects of these environmental influences among racially minoritized and lower socioeconomic students, given their historic underrepresentation in educational psychology research. Through her research, Miranda aims to contribute actionable insights that promote educational equity for all students, creating environments where every student can thrive. |
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Area
TLEI Research Interests
Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Children’s Reasoning, Mathematical Thinking Vertical Divider
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Banu Karyagdi is a Ph.D. student in the UCI School of Education, specializing in
Teaching, Learning, and Educational Improvement (TLEI). She holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics Education and an M.Sc. in Mathematics and Science Education from Boğaziçi University. Previously, she worked as a graduate researcher at BounAdaptiveTestLab, which focuses on assessing academic achievement and psychological constructs through adaptive tests. Her work included contributing to the development of non-routine mathematics problems, conducting pilot studies, and analyzing students’ data to assess 4th grade students' mathematical abilities at the end of their elementary school year. These experiences deepened her understanding of educational assessments and reinforced her commitment to bridging the gap between research and practical implementation. Banu's research interests center on children's reasoning, cognitive development in mathematics, and effective teaching practices, with a focus on enhancing educational methodologies and outcomes. |
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Area
TLEI Research Interests
Educational Data Science, Digital Learning, AI in Education, Cognition & Education, Large Language Models Vertical Divider
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Ali Keramati is a Ph.D. student specializing in Teaching, Learning, and Educational Improvement at the UCI School of Education. He previously earned a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering with a minor in Educational Sciences from the University of Tehran. His research lies at the intersection of artificial intelligence, cognition, and education, particularly developing advanced machine learning and natural language processing methods to enhance student learning experiences and support more effective teaching practices. Specifically, Ali investigates the application of large language models (LLMs) in combination with optimization techniques such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), fine-tuning, and Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF). Additionally, he is interested in exploring philosophical and psychological questions at the intersection of human cognition and LLMs, analyzing how human learning, knowledge organization, and memory compare to LLM-driven processes. Ultimately, Ali aims to design and benchmark LLM-powered tools—such as chatbots and automated educational systems—that align closely with human cognitive processes, improving educational outcomes and transforming how people learn and teach. For more information, visit https://alikera.github.io/.
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Area
HDiC Research Interests
Positive Media, Prosocial & Moral Development, Social-Emotional Development, Child & Adolescent Development, Educational Technology, Empathy & Caring, Parasocial Relationships Vertical Divider
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Susan graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education with a M.Ed. in
Technology, Innovation, & Education and from the University of Michigan with an M.A.C. in Elementary Education and a B.A. in Psychology. Since graduating, she has worked with students ages 2 to 22 inside and outside of the classroom. Her most recent endeavor was teaching IB Psychology at an international high school in Korea. She has also spent time with media developers from Next Generation Preschool Math/Science to assess the effects of technology in early childhood education. Susan is interested in continuing to explore the effects of positive media on prosocial and moral development of children and adolescents through her time as a Ph.D. student in the Human Development in Context at the University of California Irvine, School of Education. |
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Area
EPSC Research Interests
Education policy, Educational inequality, Economics of Education, Gender disparities, Career development Vertical Divider
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Hongjiao Li is a Ph.D. student in the UCI School of Education, specializing in
Education Policy and Social Context. She holds a Master’s in International Education Policy Analysis from Stanford University and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Education Sciences and Business Economics from the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on the role of education in shaping young women’s futures, particularly how educational, social, and systemic barriers affect their academic and career development in urban and rural China. Her master’s thesis, “Investing in Knowledge: The Role of Gender and Hukou in Household Decisions on Private Tutoring in China,” uses quantitative analysis to explore the dynamics of gender, residential status, and educational investments. Additionally, Hongjiao has contributed to significant projects, including analyzing diverse identities in Chinese universities and assessing global educational systems with IIEP-UNESCO. She aims to develop sustainable strategies that empower marginalized students, particularly girls, to succeed academically and professionally. |
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Area
TLEI Research Interests
Learning Sciences, Educational Technology, Development and Adaptation to New Technology Vertical Divider
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Peter is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education, concentrating on Teaching,
Learning, and Educational Improvement (TLEI). He received his B.A. in English from the University of California, Irvine and his M.A. in Neuroscience and Education at the University of California, Riverside. His focus is on how people interact with new technologies in academic spaces and the corresponding adaptation of learning strategies. The recent discourse on artificial intelligence (AI), and the popularized integration of AI-related technologies in many platforms, is at the forefront of his research. His goal is to help in the design of systems for effective and responsible use of technology to enhance education. It is important to him that the experiences of both teachers and students are improved. He has work experience in assisting faculty with pedagogy and online course management. |
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Area
TLEI Research Interests
African American English, Black Excellence, Literacy Instruction, Translanguaging, Black Schooling and Learning Practices, African American Literary Societies Vertical Divider
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Logan "Mac" McWilliams is a Ph.D. student in the UCI School of Education's HDiC
concentration. Logan holds a B.S. in Psychology (Child Development) and a M.A. in Instruction and Curricular Design. All that matters to Mac is black kids reading! Backed by scores of research and a deep belief in the inherent brilliance of black children, Mac's interests include: black excellence pedagogy, African American literary societies, AAE informed literacy instruction, black schooling and learning practices, and shifting the narrative on who gets to identify as a reader in this country. To promote this shift, Mac has launched several FUBU programs, such as a private homeschool for black students, virtual tutoring, and curricular materials for families to support learning at home. In her free time, Mac enjoys reading, crafting, and listening to the ‘Big Mad,True Crime’ podcast with her wife, daughter, and dogs. |
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Area
HDiC Research Interests
Playful Learning, Motivation in Education, Prosocial and Moral Development, Education Inequality Vertical Divider
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Tere Merino is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education with a specialization in
Human Development in Context. She received her Bachelor's degree in Administration in Mexico and her MBA in Barcelona, Spain. She has been teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels for over 15 years. As a dedicated university professor with over a decade of experience, her journey in academia has offered her profound insights into the intricacies of the educational landscape. Through her interactions with students aged 18 to 23, she has encountered a significant number of individuals grappling with challenges deeply rooted in traditional educational paradigms. The difficulties they face in basic arithmetic, the underdevelopment of logical thinking skills, limited reading comprehension, and the complexity of summarizing ideas have underscored the importance of early intervention. To truly address these fundamental learning hurdles, it has become clear to her that we must initiate interventions at a much earlier stage in children’s development. These realizations have ignited her fervent passion for embarking on a Ph.D. in Education, driving her commitment to research and develop solutions that can transform educational practices from the ground up. |
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Area
EPSC Research Interests
Early Childhood Policy, Educational Interventions, Equity, STEM Education Vertical Divider
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Pritha is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education at the University of California,
Irvine in the area of Education Policy and Social Context. She is interested in the short-term and long-term impacts of early life poverty and socioeconomic disadvantages on children and their families, and how policies and interventions can help promote equity in early education. Pritha received her B.A in Psychology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India, and her M.A in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. During her Master’s, her research focused on fadeout effects of educational interventions. Prior to joining UCI, she worked at Wesleyan University as a lab manager in the psychology department, where she explored how play-based interventions can promote early numeracy skills. |
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Area
TLEI Research Interests
Teaching and Teacher Education, Student Identity, Diversity & Equity, Research practice partnerships Vertical Divider
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Minjung (Minny) Shin is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education with a
concentration in Teaching Learning Educational Improvement (TLEI). She received both a B.A in Education and M.A. in Teaching at UW Seattle. After graduating from her master’s program, she taught as an elementary teacher in Washington state and New York. Her experiences working with students and teachers motivate her research interests to gain a deeper understanding of teaching and teacher education and how students’ identity affects student engagement and learning. She hopes to continue her work with school communities in research practice partnerships. |
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Area
TLEI Research Interests
Digital Literacy & Learning, Design-Based Research, Applications of AI in Education, Research-Practice Partnerships, Educational Measurement Vertical Divider
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Jasmine Tran is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education at UCI, specializing in
Teaching, Learning, and Educational Improvement. Born and raised in East San Jose, she earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from San Jose State University (SJSU). After graduating from SJSU, she interned at an education policy firm and worked as a research coordinator at Stanford University, where she became interested in the design and development of learning tools. Jasmine aspires to explore the design and development processes that make learning tools effective for students of all backgrounds. She is also broadly interested in the implementation and evaluation of AI in learning tools. She is advised by Dr. Mark Warschauer and co-advised by Dr. Kylie Peppler. |
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Area
HDiC Research Interests
Early Childhood Education, Emergent Bilingual Education, Translanguaging, Language and Literacy, Teacher Education Vertical Divider
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Kayla Ueshiro is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education, specializing in Human
Development in Context (HDiC). She received her B.Ed. in Elementary Education from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and M.S. in Reading and Literacy from California State University, Fullerton. Kayla is a Hawaiʻi Standard State Licensed, California Multiple Subject Credentialed, and California Reading and Literacy Leadership Specialist Credentialed educator who taught kindergarten in Hawaiʻi State Department of Education’s public school and Los Angeles Unified School District’s charter school systems. Guided by her experience as a classroom teacher and time at CSUF, she developed a profound interest in emergent bilingual education and pedagogical practices as it relates to language and literacy. As a result, Kayla completed a capstone project titled “Family FUN-ological Awareness: Extending Translanguaging for Home Enrichment.” Kayla aspires to enrich pedagogical practices to better prepare diverse linguistic educators in supporting the literacy and sociocultural outcomes of early childhood students. She promises to continue to contribute to and advocate for a more equitable, just, and inclusive education for all. |
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Area
EPSC Research Interests
Early Childhood Education, Educational Policy and Program Evaluation Vertical Divider
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Winona is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education, specializing in Education
Policy and Social Context. She is interested in early childhood education policy. In particular, she is interested in looking at who has access to high-quality early childhood programs and the impact of early childhood experiences on development. Winona received her B.A. in Political Science from Carleton College and her M.Ed in Educational Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prior to attending UCI, Winona worked at Duke’s Center for Child and Family Policy, studying the impact of prenatal and early childhood programs. She also has experience working in elementary schools and early childhood programs. |
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Area
TLEI Research Interests
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Teacher Learning and Teacher Education, Sociocultural Contexts, and Multilingual Learners Vertical Divider
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Taryn Williams is currently a doctoral student at the University of California, Irvine
specializing in Teaching, Learning, and Educational Improvement. She received both a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies with a focus on Urban Education and a master’s degree in Elementary Education and TESOL from the University of Pennsylvania and was later a Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace in the School of Spanish at Middlebury College. She was also in the inaugural cohort of the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education’s Strategic Leadership in Education program. A recipient of both a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Germany and a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching to India, Taryn’s research interests were born out of seeing similar systemic problems across Germany, India, and the places she’s taught in the United States. Taryn started her career in Philadelphia and most recently served as the Head Teacher at a small school in the Alaskan Bush. |
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Area
EPSC Research Interests
Equity in Education Policy, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Multiracial students, Ethnic Studies Vertical Divider
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Olivia Woolsey is a Ph.D. student in the UCI School of Education in the Educational
Policy and Social Context track. She received her B.A in Education Sciences and a Minor in Political Science from UCI where she grew her passion for supporting marginalized students in education. Olivia’s interest in equity-based policy is rooted in her experiences as a multiracial student growing up in a predominantly white area in Washington. Throughout her undergraduate career, Olivia was involved in a research lab evaluating ethnic studies courses in California, which is a topic she continues involvement in. Olivia additionally plans to study multiracial student’s experiences and representation through education. Olivia hopes to continue promoting inclusive practices and broadening the conversation surrounding multiracial students. |
2023 Cohort
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Reinaldo Cabrera Pérez
HDiC Bi/multilingualism, Second Language Acquisition, Social Network Science, Psycholinguistics, Language Variation |
Reinaldo is a first-generation Ph.D. student in the UCI School of Education's HDiC concentration. Reinaldo holds a dual Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Russian Studies and a Russian-English Translations Certificate from the University of Florida (UF). During his undergraduate studies at UF, he worked at Brain, Language, and Bilingualism lab, where he investigated how bilinguals use their languages in different social contexts by applying social network science measures. As a result, Reinaldo completed an honors thesis project titled “Connecting the Dots: Social Network approaches to capture variability across the lifespan of bilinguals and its consequences for cognition”. Reinaldo plans to continue researching language variability in bilingual speakers during his graduate studies. One of his goals is to create a dialogue between linguistic researchers and the general population to address the importance of language diversity and bilingualism.
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Caroline Chamberlain
EPSC Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood Policy, Quality Measurement and Improvement Systems |
Caroline Chamberlain is a current Ph.D. student in the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine in the area of Education Policy and Social Context. She is interested in high-quality early childhood education and statewide quality improvement systems. Caroline received her B.A. in Psychology and French, as well as her M.Ed. in Educational Psychology-Applied Developmental Science from the University of Virginia. She worked at UVA’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) on statewide initiatives to support early childhood programs in Virginia. Caroline also has experience working in preschool classrooms, and she spent a year teaching English to elementary school students in France.
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Faith is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education, specializing in Education Policy and the Social Context. She holds a B.A. in Social Policy and Public Service from the University of California, Irvine, where she conducted extensive research on the experiences of transfer students, particularly those from first-generation, low-income, and historically underrepresented backgrounds, during their transition to a 4-year university. Guided by her early life experiences as a low-income single parent and currently as a post-traditional student returning to higher education after a 28-year break, Faith's research aims to examine the factors that influence successful adjustment and flourishing in college transfer students. Throughout her academic journey, Faith remains committed to significantly improving education policy and promoting equity and opportunity in higher education.
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Gabriella (Gabi) Gonzalez
EPSC Early Childhood, Educational Policy and Program Evaluation, Educational Interventions |
Gabriella (Gabi) Gonzalez earned a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior from the University of California, Davis. She also earned an M.S. in Quantitative Psychology and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology with a certificate of Institutional Research from Ball State University. During her time at Ball State University, she served as an intern in the university accreditation office evaluating the efficacy of high-impact practices within Ball State. She is interested in utilizing quantitative methods and assessments to reform and evaluate educational policies, practices, and programs specifically within the pre-K population. In addition, she is interested in finding cognitive and environmental factors responsible for improving learning as well as creating interventions to aid in learning. After pursing her PhD in Education, she hopes to work within the state government and/or school districts to evaluate educational policies, practices, and programs as well as student learning outcomes.
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Jinwon Kim
TLEI Online Learning, Learning Analytics, Educational Technology, Artificial Intelligence in Education |
Jinwon Kim is a Ph.D. student in the UCI School of Education specializing in Teaching, Learning, and Educational Improvement (TLEI). He works with Dr. Di Xu on research projects in the field of online learning. He received his B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Korea University. Additionally, he has work experience as a data scientist, working on projects that aim to promote college students’ academic engagement and well-being through learning analytics and AI algorithms. His research interest lies in the intersection of education, psychology, and AI. He aims to investigate how students’ engagement and psychological factors influence their academic achievement in online learning environments. He is also interested in building predictive models to identify at-risk students and support their academic success. To build these models, he plans to leverage educational data collected unobtrusively from a Learning Management System (LMS).
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Yoomee Lee
HDiC College Access and Equity, STEM, Students of Color, Program Evaluation, Educational Environments |
Yoomee Lee is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education specializing in Human Development in Context (HDiC). She received her B.A. in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California, Irvine, and M.A. in Higher Education and Organizational Change from the University of California, Los Angeles. Yoomee is a college admissions consultant and established her global business in educational consulting to democratize information on college admissions. Her efforts have reached 100,000+ students in more than 32 countries. She is also the founder and director of Global Emerging Leaders, a nonprofit organization that educates and empowers young individuals to become positive advocates for change. Her research interest broadly revolves around promoting access, persistence, and success of underrepresented students in STEM. She is particularly interested in promoting diversity and equity in STEM through understanding how institutional support impacts the experiences and outcomes of women and students of color in STEM.
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Youjin Lee
HDiC Reading Comprehension, Literacy Development in Multilingual Learners, Individual Differences & SLA, Language Assessment |
Youjin received her MA in English Language Education at Seoul National University and her BA in English Language and Literature from Sungkyunkwan University. Her personal language learning experiences have inspired her studies and research toward a larger understanding of L2 proficiency. Her current research interests include literacy development, linguistic and cognitive aspects in reading, and IDs in second language learning. As a doctoral student, Youjin hopes to delineate multilingual learners’ reading and writing processes and find ways to aid effective second/foreign language instruction.
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Wentao Li
TLEI Writing Instruction and Assessment, Peer Feedback/Interaction, Self-Regulated Strategy Development, Writing Intervention for Special Education Populations, Writing Teacher Education |
Wentao Li is a writing researcher in the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine, USA. His research focuses on issues that are central to advancing writing research and improving writing instruction in and beyond schools and universities. These topics include writing instruction and assessment, peer feedback/interaction, self-regulated strategy development, writing intervention for special education populations, and writing teacher education. His research has appeared in a range of scholarly venues, including Assessing Writing, Reading and Writing, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Frontiers in Psychology, the Journal of Pragmatics, the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, and the Journal of English for Academic Purposes.
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Jesse Giovanni Sanchez
EPSC & HDiC Education Policy, First Gen, Wellness, Mental Health, Neuroscience, Human Development, Poverty, Social Mobility |
Jesse Giovanni Sánchez has served as an education advocate for first-generation college students across the United States as well as in Mexico and Brazil. A First Gen student himself, Giovanni graduated from Harvard University with honors and is hoping to continue his student advocacy work by pursuing a PhD at the intersection of Education Policy, Human Development and Wellness/Mental Health.
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Isabella Teresa Seccia
HDiC Parent-Child interactions, Culturally responsive learning technologies, Family interactions with learning technologies, Co-design, Latine Families |
I am currently a Ph.D. Student in Human Development in Context at the University of California Irvine, School of Education. I study family learning with technology from a culturally informed perspective. I am interested in both designing and assessing learning technologies that respond to the needs and cultural practices of Latine families in order to ensure that the sphere of digital education is an accessible and inclusive space. Prior to commencing my studies in graduate school, I earned my B.A. in Education Sciences from the University of California Irvine. During my time in undergrad, I worked under the mentorship of Dr. Bustamante at the STEM Learning Lab and Dr. Ahn at the Design and Partnerships Lab, where I co-designed playful learning landscapes with a local nonprofit (SAELI) and I designed characters and games for an application that creates STEM learning opportunities for families.
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Kathy Tran
HDiC Academic Achievement, Adolescent Development, Cultural Identity, Prosocial and Moral Development |
Kathy Tran is a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Irvine’s School of Education, specializing in Human Development in Context. She plans to research the multicultural experiences of students of color, their families, and students’ academic achievements. Before attending UC Irvine, Kathy received a B.A. in Psychology and was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar at California State University, Fullerton. As an undergraduate, she developed her McNair thesis that examined Southeast Asian American college students’ involvement in student cultural organizations and same-race and intraminority friendships as potential predictor variables of belonging.
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Mi Joung (April) Yu is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education, specializing in the area of Education Policy and Social Context. April earned her bachelor’s degree in Government from Cornell University and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Seoul National University. She also worked at the Center for International Development Evaluation and the Korea Institute of Public Administration. Coupled with her academic background in policy research, volunteering with nonprofits serving disadvantaged children shaped her interest in advancing policy and practice to support better educational outcomes for children through research. As a doctoral student, she plans to study early childhood policy, the long-term effects of educational interventions, and program evaluation.
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2022 Cohort
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Lourdes M. Acevedo-Farag
HDiC STEM Education, Rational Number Learning, Playful Learning, BIPOC communities, Educational Pipeline |
Prior to pursuing a Ph.D. in Education, Lourdes Acevedo-Farag earned her B.A. in Sociology and Education and M.Ed. in Urban Education from UCLA. As a Latina, first generation college student originally pursuing a STEM major, she recognized the disparity between the STEM oriented skills she brought compared to that of her more affluent counterparts. She then dedicated herself to learning how to reduce this gap in preparation for STEM fields, which ultimately led her to pursue a career in the classroom. While she taught in a variety of grades throughout her 12 year career as a classroom teacher, having taught middle school math to students who did not identify as “math people, sparked her interest in how students from historically marginalized communities persist through the STEM educational pipeline. Her research interests regard interactive, play- and project-based STEM learning, math identity, persistence, and BIPOC communities. As a doctoral student, Lourdes plans to employ mixed-methods approaches to understand how to create effective interventions that facilitate students’ math identities, positively affecting their persistence through the STEM educational pipeline.
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Aaron Ainsworth
EPSC K-12 Educator Labor Markets, Teacher and Organizational Effectiveness, Program Evaluation, Causal Inference |
Aaron Ainsworth is currently a Ph.D. student in Education Policy and Social Context at the University of California, Irvine School of Education where he studies the K-12 education workforce. He is interested in how educator labor markets respond to both in and out-of-school changes and their implications for the preparation, recruitment, development, effectiveness and retention of educators. To that end, he is interested in partnerships with education stakeholders and novel uses of longitudinal administrative data systems. Prior to graduate school, Aaron worked as an elementary and middle school teacher in both traditional public and charter schools in Las Vegas, NV. He has degrees in Education Studies and Political Science from Vanderbilt University and a master’s degree in Elementary Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
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Nicholas Ainsworth
EPSC Early Care and Education Policy, Special Education Policy, Educational Equity, Causal Inference |
Nick Ainsworth is a current Ph.D. student in the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine specializing in the area of Education Policy and Social Context (EPSC). He is broadly interested in early care and education policy as well as special education. In particular, Nick is interested in studying how policies shape access to and outcomes from participating in high-quality early life interventions (care, education, etc.), with a particular focus on children growing up in poverty and students with disabilities or developmental delays. Prior to attending UC Irvine, Nick was a K-2 special education teacher in Las Vegas, NV. He received his master’s degree in Special Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Education from Vanderbilt University.
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आकृति (Aakriti) belongs to an ethnic group called गढ़वाली (Garhwali) based out of the Himalayan region in India. She grew up in a city called Dehradun and traveled across India for her studies and work. She received her Bachelor's degree in Science from Garhwal University and a certificate in Children’s book illustration. She worked with a rural developmental organization, Gram Vikas and an alternative art school called Poorna Learning Center, designing community based education programs. Her own cultural context highly inspires her work around the acknowledgement and the importance of community in child’s education. Prior to joining the Ph.D. program at School of Education in UCI, Aakriti finished her Masters degree in Education from Azim Premji University. She currently studies the role of community in child's education through arts based research methods. And in her free time she likes to stitch, knit, cook, do watercolor paintings or take long walks.
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Zhenyao Cai
TLEI AI in Education, Human-Computer Interaction, Educational Technology, Collaborative Learning, Playful Learning |
Zhenyao Cai received her B.A. in Computer Science and Art History from Smith College, and M.A. in Educational Technology from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her multidisciplinary academic training shaped her interest in educational technologies, AI education, learning analytics, and out-of-school education. Her previous research projects involved maker education, online collaborative discussion, AI literacy, and AR and embodied learning. Currently, she is working on a citizen science project, aiming to investigate possible ways to involve novices in scientific literature search and motivate them in STEM learning. In the long term, she wants to design and build technologies to involve broader participants in STEM learning and explorations, and she wants to investigate how the design and interactions these technologies afford can shape and transform learners’ cognitive and affective capabilities.
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Daniel Garcia
EPSC Effect of Same-Race Faculty on BIPOC Undergraduate Persistence; Racial Justice; Organizational Change |
Daniel Garcia earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UC San Diego and a master’s in Psychological Science from CSU Northridge. His research agenda is focused on the graduation rates of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students, BIPOC faculty, the effect of faculty on persistence, racial justice, and organizational change. For example, the graduation rates of BIPOC students continue to lag behind their enrollment rate (i.e., BIPOC enrollment-graduation gap). Moreover, substantial research demonstrates the positive relationship between BIPOC faculty and BIPOC graduation rates, with a dearth in the literature examining the nature of this relationship. Therefore, his current goal is to use qualitative methods to investigate how BIPOC faculty positively affect BIPOC graduation rates. His long-term goal is to become a tenure-track professor and produce scholarship that addresses how institutions can implement sustainable policies that recruit BIPOC faculty more purposefully—instead of fluctuating racial equity initiatives.
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Mariana Gomez holds a B.A. and M.A. in Child Development from California State University, Los Angeles. Currently, she is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education working with Dr. Elizabeth Peña and Dr. Stephanie Reich. During her undergraduate studies, Mariana worked as a research assistant investigating the substance use, sexual and educational attitudes of emergent adults advised by Dr. Claudia Kouyoumdjian. During this time, she also worked as part of the GO East LA Initiative, supporting a college-going culture in the East LA community. Additionally, advised by Dr. Jessica Morales-Chicas, Mariana worked with the Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers program that provides STEM programming to underserved middle school students and researched Latinx STEM mentors’ cultural wealth that informs their practices. Mariana also has a background in early childhood education, and in higher education student affairs. As a preschool teacher and director in Southern California, Mariana’s found interest in supporting bilingual skills among underserved families to thrive in education. As a professional in student affairs at California State University, Fullerton, Mariana reaffirmed her passion for educational equity work that promotes college-going culture and career success. Currently, her research looks at the components of context that support bilingual skills among underserved young children. Mariana’s goal is to continue integrating an intersecting identities framework that looks at the assets that underserved families possess for their children’s optimal development.
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Siling Guo
HDiC Child Development, Early Childhood Education, Mathematical Cognition, Interventions, Program Evaluation |
Siling Guo is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education with a specialization in Human Development in Context (HDiC). Siling’s primary focus is on understanding how early interventions designed to improve children’s skills or environment will make persistent changes in their learning and developmental outcomes.
Siling’s passion for early education and development led her to earn a master’s degree in Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. Past experiences with various educational interventions in rural China, West/North Philadelphia, and Ghana exposed Siling to the links between school-based interventions, child development, and education policy, especially for underserved children. Furthermore, Siling’s academic work is built upon her undergraduate pursuits in early childhood education and psychology, during which she gained classroom experience and background as a teacher, researched teacher-child interaction, and designed early education curricula. |
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Kunlei He is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the School of Education at UCI, where her research centers on leveraging AI to enrich children's media and learning. As a member of the Digital Learning Lab, she designs and evaluates conversational technologies to improve children's learning from television and e-books. Before joining UCI, Kunlei accomplished her master's degree at Harvard University. There, she investigated the impact of home and school environments on children's language and literacy development. For more information about Kunlei's research, please visit kunleihe.github.io.
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Before enrolling at UCI School of Education, Heidi practiced as a school psychologist for six years serving students in preschool through twelfth grade. Heidi’s time as a school psychologist encouraged her to purse a Ph.D. in education to study early literacy interventions. Heidi currently works on a project that provides training and resources targeting literacy instruction for rural elementary school teachers in grades kindergarten through third grade.
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Gennie Laramore
HDiC Language and Literacy Development, Early Intervention, Early Childhood Education, Special Education |
Gennie's background is in Birth through Five education and Speech-language pathology.
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Jenny Lee
EPSC Underrepresented Minority Students' Access, Academic Success, and Retention; Culturally Responsive Higher Education Interventions; Educational Equity |
Jenny Lee is a doctoral student in the School of Education specializing in Educational Policy and Social Context. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Ethnic Studies from California Polytechnic State University. During her undergraduate career, Jenny investigated factors that impact underrepresented students' academic success in higher education. Her commitment to improve access, academic achievement, and retention rates of historically disadvantaged students inspires her research on culturally responsive higher education interventions.
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Julian Levine
TLEI Vocabulary, Language Learning, Reading Comprehension, Digital Literacy, Oral Language, Educational Measurement |
Julian Levine is a Ph.D. student in the UCI School of Education's TLEI cluster, specializing in language and literacy. He is currently conducting research on the Converse to Learn project as a member of the Digital Learning Lab at UCI. He holds a B.A. in economics (minor in psychology) from UC San Diego and an M.A. in education (social research methodologies) from UC Berkeley. Julian taught English in South Korea for two and a half years, and has studied various languages including Korean, Spanish, and Japanese. His ultimate goal is to use his research to help people of all ages achieve success in language learning. You can find more information about Julian and his research here: https://www.julian-levine.com/
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Alaria Long has experience teaching culturally diverse 6th graders math in Northern, Kentucky. Also, she was a part of the UCLA-HBCU Initiative/STEER Research Program which influenced her to become a PhD student at UC, Irvine. Specifically, in Educational Policy regarding Culturally Biased Standardized testing, Test Preparation for Minority Students, Improved Curriculum-based Education, and Career Readiness for Marginalized Students. In the future, she would like to become a Superintendent and encourage minorities into College Readiness Programs or work for Test Companies to stimulate cultural equality in standardized assessments.
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Victoria Nguyen graduated from UC Irvine in 2021 with B.A degrees in both Education and Social Ecology as well as two minors in Global Sustainability and Psychological Sciences. Upon graduating, she continued her work in environmental education as a Recycling Coordinator at Waste Management where she assisted with the implementation and educational outreach of California recycling and food-waste laws. Seeing how the history of environmental education heavily focuses on individual behavior change and often excludes the perspectives and solutions of BIPOC communities, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Education at UC Irvine specializing in Teaching, Learning, and Educational Improvement (TLEI). Through her research, she hopes to collaborate with K-12 students and undergraduates to collectively take climate action and work toward an equitable and interdisciplinary future in environmental education.
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Seehee is a Ph.D. student in the School of Education specializing in Teaching Learning Educational Improvement (TLEI). She received her B.A. in Sociology at UCLA and M.A. in Teaching at USC. She has gained a strong foundation to instructional practices working in different classrooms, developing and creating skills in using instruction to teach skills to the students. After earning her master's degree she participated in Technology-Enhanced Learning Design (TELD) Lab at Seoul National University and participated in projects in how people learn in online environments. She is interested in and hopes to continue her research in online learning, computer-supported-collaboration-learning, and learning analytics.
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Sina Rismanchian
TLEI Educational Data Science, AI in Education, Educational Technology, Learning Analytics |
Sina Rismanchian is from Isfahan, Iran. His research interests are in the intersection of Computer Science and Education. His focus is on researching how to gain the benefits of computer science and data science to excel K-12 education and to explore educational theories using quantitative methods. He is currently a first-year Ph.D. student at UC Irvine School of Education with a specialization in Teaching, Learning, and Educational Improvement (TLEI). He received his undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Engineering at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran. His interest in education comes from his previous educational activities such as teaching math to middle-school students, designing a collaborative educational platform for K-12 students, and co-founding an educational society of university students named Rasta in Iran. He works with Dr. Shayan Doroudi in using quantitative methods to explore learning debates, theories, and models.
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Guadalupe is interested in researching how students (K-12, college) motivation and STEM identity are influenced by family and peers, in particular students who belong to groups that have been historically underrepresented in STEM. Overall her goal is to continue to be a part of the research efforts to increase representation in STEM fields and she'd also like to explore issues in educational equity for first-generation college students.
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Kayla Marie Sarte
HDiC Language and Literacy Development, Second Language Writing, Corpus Linguistics |
Kayla is a Ph.D. student studying the first language (L1), task type and other writing conditions’ influence on Noun Phrase (NP) Complexity Development in a learner’s second language (L2) writing. Kayla received her bachelor’s degree in Secondary English Education from Notre Dame of Marbel University, her first master’s degree in English from Ateneo de Davao University in the Philippines, and another master’s degree in General and Applied Linguistics (Advanced, with a university medal) from the Australian National University. Prior to UCI, Kayla conducted different research focusing on mother tongue-multilingual education and using classroom discourse and conversational analyses. At ANU, she became interested in using inferential statistics to answer her language development inquiries. Currently, she’s investigating the NP complexity differences among L1 Groups. In her Ph.D., she hopes to contribute to the discussion on convergent triangulation in the field of corpus linguistics, and build her own L2 English Academic Writing Corpus.
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Seth is interested in designing STEM learning experiences using participatory design research methods that center the values, desires, and aspirations of the groups that will engage with them. He is advised by Dr. June Ahn and co-advised by Dr. Kylie Peppler. Seth received a B.A. in Chemistry and a minor in Science and Mathematics Education from the University of California, Berkeley. More recently, he worked as a research assistant at the Concord Consortium and as a research project manager at BSCS Science Learning studying STEM education and the learning sciences. His experiences conducting design-based research and engaging in co-design with youth, informal science educators, science content experts, and researchers have shaped his current research interests.
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Taylor Wycoff
HDiC Out-of-School-Time Learning; Opportunity Gap; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Racial Justice |
Taylor M. Wycoff is a Ph.D. student in UC Irvine’s School of Education specializing in Human Development in Context (HDiC). She has worked in the youth development field for a variety of organizations in a range of roles, including counselor, instructor, and program manager. Prior to joining UCI, Taylor received her M.S. from the University of Utah’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism where her research focused on access to and inclusion in summer camp programs. Her current research interests center around out-of-school-time learning, the opportunity gap, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice in out-of-school-time learning environments. Moving forward, Taylor hopes to engage in community based participatory and mixed-methods research to improve out-of-school-time learning opportunities for historically marginalized youth.
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2021 Cohort
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Juan Camilo Cristancho
EPSC Education, Socio-Emotional and Cognitive Development, Neighborhood/Community Violence, Acute and Chronic Stress, Program Evaluation |
Juan is an economist with a master degree in Economics and a master in Public Policy from the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. His research interests revolve around the effects of neighborhood/community violence on children and adolescents cognitive and social-emotional development, and to explore gradients due to exposure frequency, proximity, and pervasiveness. He aspires to design public policy recommendations to mitigate harmful effects from interacting with unsafe environments, to lessen the burden for children and youth living under the scourge of violence.
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Patricia Fuentes Acevedo
TLEI Teacher Learning, Sociopolitical Perspective to Noticing in Mathematics, Research-Practice Partnerships |
Patricia has a Bachelor's degree in Education, a Mathematics teacher credential, and a Master's degree in Didactics of Mathematics from the Universidad de Concepción, Chile. She worked as a teacher educator at the same institution and as a Mathematics teacher in K-12 settings in Chile. For the last two years, she has worked in Research-Practice Partnerships with elementary schools in Southern California. These partnerships have focused on creating equitable mathematical learning opportunities for predominantly Latine children. She is particularly interested in conducting community-engaged research and exploring sociopolitical approaches to math education, specifically to teacher noticing.
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Alejandro Granados Vargas (he/him), M.A., CCC-SLP is a bilingual speech-language therapist and doctoral student in Education at the University of California, Irvine. His research interests include translanguaging and decolonial applications to research at the intersections of bilingualism and disability.
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Jasmin Hernandez Santacruz
HDiC Bilingualism, Second-Language Acquisition, Cognitive Control, Language Processing |
Jasmin obtained her bachelor's degree from the University of California San Diego in Linguistics and Psychology. Her senior project focused on immersion-based language learning and changes to proficiency in both the L1 and L2. The published article can be found here. Through her research, Jasmin hopes to bridge the gap between research and community and support bilingual communities. More generally, she hopes her research will contribute to the growing field of language science and reveal more of the benefits associated with bilingualism.
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Christina received her B.A. in Applied Mathematics from UC Berkeley, her Ed.M. in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University, and her M.S. in Mathematics (Option in Mathematics Education for Secondary School Teachers) from California State University, Long Beach. She was most recently a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at California State University, Long Beach where she supported the mathematics content and pedagogy development of future elementary and secondary teachers. She has previously taught mathematics at the community college, high school, and middle school levels.
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Joseph Hin Yan Lam
HDiC Speech & Language Disorders, Measurement & Assessment, Language Development, Literacy Development, Bilingualism, Learning Disabilities |
Joseph completed his B.Sc. in Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Hong Kong. During that time, he was a research assistant at the Speech, Language and Reading Lab. He participated in a wide range of studies, including bilingual reading comprehension development, statistical learning and creativity development in dyslexia and psychological well-being of children with special education needs during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, he has been a practicing speech-language pathologist in the mainstream school setting. The work includes providing speech and language assessment and intervention to students with speech and language impairment, collaborating with teachers in designing oral language curriculum and giving teacher and parent workshops.
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Gala Ledezma
EPSC Higher Education Policy, Economics of Education, Latinx Students, College Access, Behavioral Economics, Research-Practice Partnerships |
Gala received her master’s degree in Public Policy at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, where she specialized in Program Design and Evaluation. Her interest in higher education policy was strongly motivated by her experiences as a student in San Diego’s South Bay, where she witnessed the many barriers faced by students of color, first-generation students, and low-income students in the college pipeline. Her previous research focuses on Hispanic-Serving Institutions, tuition subsidies for marginalized student groups, and the impact of policies on student trajectories, and she hopes her research will inform policies that promote access and equity for historically-underserved students.
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Jomar received his Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and his B.A. in Liberal Studies at San Francisco State University. His previous research examined how cultural capitals are expressed or repressed within college STEM classes. In other works, he analyzed the intersection between cultural anthropology and sociology as a means of reframing the causes of educational inequality and racial stratification within Oakland, California. He hopes to use his interdisciplinary approach to research to develop equity frameworks, challenge the opportunity gap, and scrutinize existing educational paradigms that work to disenfranchise racially minoritized youth within the K-12 public school system.
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