RICE LAB
In this lab, we collaborate on projects as a team. We value the contributions of all team members equally. The unique insights, perspectives, and ideas each team member brings make our science better and our team stronger. Our team is a safe space where all identities are welcomed, valued, and celebrated.
Meet the Team
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
Mallory Rice, PhD (she/her)
Dr. Rice is a biology education researcher with a background in marine ecology research. Broadly, the RICE Lab projects investigate students' experiences and perspectives in college science classrooms with the goal to make science more inclusive for all students. While the projects in the lab span a variety of research interests, all projects are student-driven. When she's not on campus, she enjoys CrossFit, running, and spending them with her family and dogs.
Current Lab Members
URISE Scholar
Raquel Yoshinaga, B.S.
Raquel is a URISE Scholar who joined the Rice Lab in Summer 2023. Raquel works on a variety of projects in the lab ranging from an investigation into the experiences of undergraduate STEM students as facilitators in informal education settings and a study examining the perspectives of undergraduate students on inclusive and exclusive practices in STEM classrooms.
Lab Alumni
Poorvi Datta, M.S.
Poorvi was a Master’s student who joined the Rice Lab in Fall 2022. Their project examined how the inclusion of computer-generated versus human-edited captioning impacts the academic outcomes of students with disabilities. As a queer, disabled student, they are passionate about educational equity, i.e. making classrooms more accessible for students like (and unlike) themselves.
Anastasia Navarro, B.A.
Anastasia recently graduated from CSUSM where she was a URISE Scholar conducting research in the lab. Her project investigated how mental health is discussed in STEM classrooms and how majoring in STEM impacted students' mental health and wellness.
Sarah Shakir, B.S.
Sarah recently graduated from CSUSM where she was a Hologic Scholar. Her passion for teaching and understanding students’ perspectives in STEM motivated her research project evaluating how various exam types and proctoring practices influence students’ perceived learning and their anxiety levels.
Ashley Virabouth, B.S.
Ashley recently graduated from CSUSM and joined the Rice Lab in Spring 2022. Her project focused on examining biology students’ anxiety levels during different exam types and exam proctoring practices. Her research aimed to encourage a more inclusive scientific community by understanding how students are personally affected by exam types in undergraduate biology courses.
Trixy Nguyen, B.S.
Trixy is a recent graduate that joined the RICE Lab in Spring 2022. Her project focused on examining STEM students’ perspectives and experiences about paraphrasing and plagiarism to provide a more inclusive and support system for students to learn scientific writing.