Rachael Robnett, an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has been fascinated by the complexities of identity and interaction since she was a child. It didn’t take long for her to realize the ways in which girls were treated differently, and today Rachael studies the relationship between women and the STEM field as well as general issues of equity in science.

Rachael’s interest in human interaction was a constant, but it wasn’t always her intended career path. She began as an education major, planning to teach English or Spanish as a second language. However, Rachael soon discovered that K-12 education wasn’t her match. While exploring her options, her interest in gender led her to study psychology, and eventually join a research lab that she would work in during her undergraduate education. This was when she realized that she could make a career out of investigating the phenomenon that were inherently interesting to her — she was immediately sold.

During graduate school, Rachael began work on a large scale research project with the assistance of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS.) For two years, she and her colleagues followed hundreds of undergraduate students in research labs across the country. Data on each student was collected at six points across the study, tracking how participation in labs shaped their goals and self efficacy. This study effectively introduced Rachael to the world of science education and proved to her the value of active learning on students’ ability to self advocate and succeed. To this day it remains as one of her favorite projects.

However, her start with EDU-STEM was a little different. As a psychologist with a background in education, Rachael holds a unique position within the network. She joined EDU-STEM during the early stages of planning in 2016 after a colleague declined an invitation. From the beginning, she’s seen the immense potential of the project and has continued to work hard to advance the network. “You don’t really see things of this scale happening that often in academia, so to be able to meet from a variety of institutions who are all working towards the same goal has been a remarkable experience.”

Rachael intends to bring a specific expertise of hers to the table - large scale data management. EDU-STEM’s size is impressive and a boon, but it also holds unique challenges. Data practices and analysis need to be kept consistent and easily communicable between the many collaborators within the network. EDU-STEM is in the midst of a crucial moment - if the system and standards aren’t well planned early on, later execution could lead to many challenges. “[It’s] true of any large scale project — people aren’t naturally going to fall in synch with one another,” said Rachael.

Luckily, She’s worked on sizable projects in the past, and her focus for the time being will be on creating a tight system for implementation across the network. Her background in education also proves to be an enlightening perspective. A major part of EDU-STEM’s goals pertain to improving classrooms and teaching styles, so understanding the translation from theory to practice is vital. “Even if your theory is great and it works in the lab, it might not work in the classroom - if its not practical people won’t use it.”

Outside of the network, Rachael will continue pursuing a grant for her own large scale research — this time focusing on the interpersonal dynamics between students and mentors. She aims to better understand the ways that parties can influence each other throughout the life of a project, and what makes some mentorships succeed while others go awry. Rachael hopes that if the important factors can be uncovered, interventions into failing mentorships could completely change the course of a project and experience for participating parties.

This won’t be without it’s challenges though; mentors are often extremely busy, making incentivization vital to the project’s success. It may be difficult to secure the support she needs, but Rachael has no intention of giving up. This is the same resolve Rachael brings to EDU-STEM as she works diligently to ensure its success. “I’m so delighted to be part of this network -- its a fun group, but it’s also a group that gets things done and you really can’t beat that combination.” The potential benefits and growth of EDU-STEM are amazing, and Rachael wants to do all she can to see it succeed.