Our lab studies the design, implementation, and outcomes of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). We are particularly interested in how authentic research experiences can be integrated across the biology curriculum and how repeated opportunities to engage in research shape students’ development as scientists. Our current work includes a curriculum-wide initiative at CSUSM in which students across multiple biology courses participate in connected research experiences focused on biological questions relevant to communities in North San Diego County. We are examining how participation in CUREs influences students’ scientific self-efficacy, science identity, sense of belonging, scientific civic engagement, and perceptions of community-oriented research.

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Funding

National Science Foundation: Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Enriching Learning, Programs, and Student Experiences (HSI:ELPSE)
2025-2028 | $499,970

Principal Investigator: Mallory Rice
Co-Principal Investigators: Jane Kim and George Vourlitis

Our research examines how students experience and navigate undergraduate STEM environments, particularly when classroom and institutional structures create barriers to participation. We are interested not only in the challenges students encounter, but also in the resources, relationships, and strategies they draw upon as they navigate STEM.

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Current and recent work in this area has examined community cultural wealth among Black STEM students, the experiences of students with disabilities in undergraduate STEM courses, mental health and exam-related anxiety, and other factors that shape students’ sense of belonging and persistence in science.

Our lab studies how instructor practices, classroom environments, and representations of scientists influence the ways students experience undergraduate biology courses. We examine how these aspects of the classroom shape students’ perceptions of inclusion and exclusion, sense of belonging, participation, and ideas about who does science.

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One area of this work focuses on representation in science education and how students’ perceptions of scientists are shaped by who they encounter in the curriculum. Current projects include the development and evaluation of Alumni Scientist Spotlights, which bring the stories and scientific work of university alumni into undergraduate biology courses.

Our lab has ongoing studies on undergraduate STEM students who serve as STEM educators and facilitators in informal STEM education experiences in K-12 settings. We examine how these experiences support the development of skills such as communication, teamwork, and leadership., and how students carry these skills into future academic and professional settings.

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We are also interested in what undergraduate facilitators bring to these spaces. In particular, our work examines how students draw on their cultural knowledge, lived experiences, relationships, and other forms of community cultural wealth when mentoring and building connections with K-12 youth.