Principal Investigator:
Dr. Dustin Thoman
Associate Professor, Psychology Department
Center for Research in Mathematics & Science Education
San Diego State University
Dr. Thoman’s training is in social psychology, with expertise in quantitative analysis. His research is both theoretical and applied. Through consulting and program development, he also works to improve education programs in science and math education, through theoretically and empirically-grounded approaches.
Co-Principal Investigator:
Dr. Jessi L. Smith
Associate Vice Chancellor for Research
Professor of Psychology
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Dr. Smith’s research is grounded in experimental methodology and longitudinal analyses, with an applied focus on educational, workplace, and health-related domains. It is currently supported with funding from the National Science Foundation as well as the National Institutes of Health.
Co-Principal Investigator:
Dr. Felisha Herrera Villareal
Director of the Research & Equity Scholarship Institute on Student Trajectories in Education
Assistant Professor, Department of Education
San Diego State University
Dr. Herrera’s scholarship is enhanced by 15 years of experience as a higher education professional at two- and four-year institutions, several Minority-Serving Institutions/Hispanic-Serving institutions, including faculty and professional positions in student affairs, institutional research, and administration. To inform system-wide change, her research employs advanced statistical techniques, including multilevel modeling, spatial analysis and social network analysis.
Postdoctoral Research Scholar:
Dr. Melo-Jean Yap
San Diego State University
Dr. Yap’s background teaching Biology courses and experience being an NIH-trained STEM scholar has prepared her for navigating STEM spaces–working with both professors and students. At UCLA, she studied the influences to the scientific thinking of STEM majors via a mixed methods approach of qualitative questionnaire and critical network theory. She has interned at the Public Policy Institute of California and mentored undergraduate researchers as a FASEB MARC Mentor.
Dr. Melo-Jean Yap is currently the Curriculum Development Manager at Hack the Hood (HtH). HtH is a nonprofit organization that aims to broaden participation in technology fields by providing data and tech skill building programs grounded in social justice and intersectional tech identity. Dr. Yap builds and evaluates data science education programs for historically excluded groups in technology, ages 16-25, and collaborates with small businesses in also training participants in data and web development consulting.
Working in ADAPT has provided Dr. Yap some insight into challenges of implementing changes in curricula, especially concerning BIPOC and first-generation students. Additionally, Dr. Thoman introduced a new NSF grant (NSF DUE-1937777) to Dr. Yap, who applied for and received it with Dr. Herrera. Work from her grant led to manuscripts that are currently in review, as well as a book chapter in the forthcoming book, Beyond Equity Into Justice: Bringing Theory Into Practice at Community Colleges. Dr. Yap also built a GitHub page with R and Python codes if researchers need to use similar statistical analyses and data visualizations:
https://github.com/1melomelo/Women-of-Color-STEM-influential-networks
Postdoctoral Research Scholar:
Dr. Peter McPartlan
San Diego State University
Dr. McPartlan’s research expertise lies in educational psychology, focusing on academic motivation and understanding the social forces that shape students’ engagement in school. Peter got his PhD. at UC Irvine working with Biology instructors to improve introductory STEM experiences through programs that improve students’ sense of belonging.
Post Doctoral Research Scholar:
Dr. Gabriela Kovats Sanchez
Dr. Kovats Sánchez is currently the Faculty Scholar for the Native Resource Center at San Diego State University and a lecturer for the American Indian Studies department. She coordinates the Elymash Yuuchaap Indigenous Leaders and Scholars Program, designed to mentor and provide community-learning experiences for Indigenous and Native students pursuing higher education at SDSU. In this hybrid faculty and administrative role, Dr. Kovats Sánchez develops innovative educational programming for SDSU’s Division of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity. She developed a speaker series centering on diasporic Indigenous Latinx communities in the United States and co-founded the Native Resource Center’s Indigenous Research Symposium for undergraduate and graduate students at SDSU. During her time working on the ADAPT project, Dr. Kovats Sánchez gained significant manuscript writing experience. Consequently, upon completing her postdoctoral position, Dr. Kovats Sánchez published, “If we don’t do it, nobody is going to talk about it”: Indigenous Students Disrupting Monolithic Notions of Latinidad at Hispanic Serving Institutions in a special issue of AERA Open on Hispanic Serving Institutions.
Project Manager:
Jennifer M. Poe, M.A.
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Jennifer received her M.A. at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in psychological science in 2016. Her training and research focused on applying neurophysiological measures to the study of social psychological topics. Her professional background includes three years teaching psychology courses and seven years overseeing research design and implementation in higher education.