Emily Alonso
Ph.D. Student - School Organization and Educational Policy
Danielle J Armadillo
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 15
Maria Belen Buttiler
Ph.D. Candidate - Language, Literacy and Culture
Education
Ph.D., in Education: Language, Literacy, and Culture, May 2025. University of California, Davis.
M.A. in Applied Linguistics: TESOL, May 2020. Michigan State University.
B.A. in English Language and Literature, June 2015. Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina.
Research Experience
Lead Researcher, R&D Team, Blossom
Project
Transcendent
Endeavors, New York City, N.Y. (Jul 2024 – present)
Rodrigo Bonilla
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 19
Audrey Boochever
Ph.D. Candidate - School Organization and Educational Policy
My social science research focuses on the ways that education policies and practices address educational inequities.
Analisa Brown
Ph.D. Student - Science and Agricultural Education
Tadria Cardenas
Ph.D. Student
Mariana Carrola Flores
Ph.D. Student - School Organization and Educational Policy
Mariana (she/her) is a third-year doctoral student in the School Organization and Educational Policy track with a designated emphasis in Feminist Theory and Research. Before coming to UC Davis, Mariana studied Education Studies and Public Health at UC San Diego and conducted education research under the mentorship of Dr. Frances Contreras. Currently, Mariana is a member of Dr. Natalia Caporale’s Equity in STEM Education lab.
Horacio Corona Lira
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 17
Background
Horacio Corona Lira was born in Las Tortugas, Michoacán, Mexico, and raised in Lindsay, California. He is the first in his family to attend and graduate from college, receiving a bachelor’s degree in psychology with minors in education and Chicano studies from the University of California at Berkeley. He attributes much of his success to the work ethic instilled in him by his parents and his campesino upbringing. Horacio has over 10 years of professional experience in student affairs, student equity, and leadership in higher education.
Jose Cortes
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 22
Chloe Crull
Ph.D. Student - Language, Literacy and Culture
Hodari Davis
Ph.D. Student
Donelle Davis
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 10
Garrett DeHond
Ph.D. Student
Grace Ebron
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 16
Roxanne Elliott
Ph.D. Student - Language, Literacy and Culture
MA in Translation & MA in TESOL
Middlebury Institute of International Studies, Monterey, CA
BA in Foreign Languages & Art History
Scripps College, Claremont, CA
Hessam Ghanimi
Ph.D. Student
Marlyn Gomez
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 19
Jose Gutierrez
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 17
Positions
Assistant Principal
Social Science Teacher
Research Interests
Trauma Informed Care
Restorative Justice
Multi Tiered Systems of Support
Cagri Guzel
Ph.D. Student
Dylan Hawksworth-Lutzow
Ph.D. Student
Andrew Hood
Ph.D. Student - Mathematics Education
Jill Huynh
Ph.D. Student
Garth Lewis
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 16
Background
In June 2018, Garth was elected as the first African American to serve as the Yolo County Superintendent of Schools.
Diana Lizarraga
Ed.D. student-CANDEL Cohort 12
Education
- MA, University of San Francisco | Human Resources and Organizational Development. Emphasis in Higher Education structures, STEM diversity, and leadership development.
- BS, UC Davis | Agricultural Systems and Environment. Emphasis in Communications and Information Systems. McNair Research Scholar, NSF LSAMP/CAMP- MURALS Research Scholar, and Hugh Edmondson Pathology Research Fellow, CALESS Member.
- AA, Math, Engineering, and Science | Sacramento City College.
Stephanie Luna-Lopez
Ph.D. Student - School Organization and Educational Policy
Mary Martin
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 19
Teresita Martinez
Ph.D. Student - School Organization and Educational Policy
Teresita Martinez is a first-year Ph.D. student in the School Organization and Education Policy program and a graduate student researcher in the California Education Lab and the Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research at the University of California, Davis.
Bryelle McRay
Ph.D. Student - School Organization & Education Policy
Jadda Miller
Ph.D. Student - Science and Agricultural Education
Research Interests
Environmental Science Education; Place-based Education; Citizen Science; Participatory Action Research; Formal and Informal Learning Environments; Traditional Ecological Knowledge; Rural Community Development; Environmental Justice
Anthony Miranda
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 21
Mikenna Modesto
Ph.D. Student
Sawsan Morrar
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 17
Chamee Moua
Ph.D. Student - Learning and Mind Sciences
Alyssa Nguyen
Ph.D. Student - School Organization and Educational Policy
Mariana Olivo-Urbina
Ph.D. Student - Learning and Mind Sciences
Izamar Ortiz-González
Ph.D. Student-School Organization and Policy
Background
Izamar Ortiz-González is a daughter of immigrant parents. This experience taught her to navigate multiple narratives at school and at home. Bridging the gap between these narratives has been her goal throughout her life as a teacher, organizer and student.
Tracy Ostrom
Ph.D. Student - Science and Agricultural Education
Cynthia (Cindy) Parks
Ph.D. Student - Learning and Mind Sciences
Cindy Parks is an second year doctoral student in the School of Education, and instructor in the Redwood SEED Scholars program. As a neurodiverse person, Cindy is passionate in her belief that educating parents, teachers, mentors and community members about their children’s and students’ neurodevelopmental needs can result in the implementation of parenting and learning strategies that will help children and families to live more harmonious, productive and loving lives.
Isela Pena-Rager
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 12
Education:
- Ed.D. – Educational Leadership – UC Davis (in progress)
- M.A. – Spanish, Applied Linguistics & Graduate Certificate in Second Language Studies – Purdue University
- B.A. – Art, specialization in Photography – University of La Verne
Research Interests:
Anna Peñaloza
Ph.D. Student - Language, Literacy and Culture
Anna holds a Bachelor’s in Environmental Science from the University of Arizona. In 2019, she completed her Master’s in Language Teaching from the Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia in Tunja, Colombia. Her work in Colombia has focused on educational equity for women and girls in rural areas, as well as gender and academic writing in the public university space. As the former editorial assistant of Enletawa Journal, Anna sought to make academic journals more inclusive of voices historically silenced in academia. Currently, she is in the Ph.D.
Sonia Gabriela (Gaby) Perez
Ph.D. Student - School Organization and Educational Policy
Marguerite Phillips
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 13
Olabisi Popoola
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 21
Maira Pulido
Ph.D. Student
Téa Skye Pusey
Ph.D. Student - Science and Agricultural Education
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY
Bachelor of Arts, University of California, Merced, 2022
GPA: 3.97, Major: Sociology, Minors: Natural Sciences Education and Psychology
RESEARCH INTERESTS/AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Science Education, Educational Equity, Gender, Race, & Ethnicity, Formative Assessment Tools
EXPERIENCE
PROFESSIONAL EXPIERENCE
Middle School Math Tutor, CalTeach - Fall 2021
Adriana Quintana-Lopez
Ph.D. Student
Jaime Ramirez-Mendoza
Ph.D. Student - School Organization and Educational Policy
Jaime Ramirez-Mendoza (he/him/él) is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate at UC Davis, specializing in School Organization and Educational Policy. As a first-generation, low-income, bilingual Latino from rural California, Jaime’s personal education journey drives his research focus on centering racial equity to examine college affordability, access, and success for historically excluded populations, and bridging said research to actionable policy.
Martin Reed
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 15
Katrina Rice
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 17
Katrina is a National Board Certified Teacher with over 15 years of teaching experience in urban secondary classrooms. She began her career at June Jordan School for Equity, in San Francisco, where she also worked as an administrator. Katrina then worked at her former high school, Jesse M. Bethel High School, in Vallejo, where she spent six years as the Lead Teacher of the Law Academy. Under her leadership, the Law Academy earned the Diversity Champion Award from California LAW.
Oscar Rios
Ph.D. Student - Learning and Mind Sciences
Daniel Rivas
Ph.D. Student - School Organization and Educational Policy
Leroy Roches Gaines
Ed.D Student CANDEL Cohort 17
Background
Leroy Gaines brings over 19 years of combined professional experience working in both urban public-school districts and non-profits paving the way for education reform. He believes all children deserve equal access to high-quality education and school leadership as a key lever in the transformation process required to put students on a path to college and career readiness. Leroy currently serves as the Network Superintendent for the Oakland Unified School District.
Valeria Romero
Ph.D. Student
Marisa Ruiz
Ph.D. Student - School Organization and Educational Policy
Mandeep Sahota-Sangha
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 23
Emma Schectman
Ph.D. Student - Science and Agricultural Education
Kellie Rene Sequeira
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 15
Monica Simeon
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 19
Cynthia Simmons
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 21
Hawanya Smith
Ph.D. Student
Susan Takami
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 16
Ciara Thomas Murphy
Ph.D. Candidate, Learning and Mind Sciences
Education
Ph.D. in Learning and Mind Sciences, UC Davis School of Education, in progress
M.A. in Community Mental Health, CIIS Department of Counseling Psychology, in progress
M.A. in Educational Leadership, Mills College School of Education, 2015
B.A. in Music with Highest Distinction, UC Berkeley, 2007
Academic Publications
Thomas Murphy, C., & Martin, L. (Revise & resubmit). Tinkering with pedagogical concepts: Making use of parallels between professional learning and student learning.
Johanna Vega Garcia
Ph.D. Student
Quinten R. Voyce
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 16
Background
Raised and currently residing in Fairfield, CA. Is excited to be an Aggie for the third time having completed a B.S. in Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Cellular & Molecular Biology as a first-gen college student and then continued to receive teaching credentials and M.A. in Education.
With a small teacher cohort, created a dual-enrollment high school program founded in 2014 where he continues to teach high school Biology, Chemistry, and a Senior Project capstone course.
Erin Winters, MEd.
Ph.D. Student - Learning & Mind Sciences
Erin Winters is a doctoral student and GAANN Fellow in education with an emphasis in learning and mind sciences, specializing in educational measurement and statistics.
Her research considers different approaches for validating the scores from high stakes and large scale for different uses. She’s particularly interested in examining the effectiveness of different statistical approaches for establishing the instructional sensitivity of tests and assessments, especially as they relate to research design.
Xiaochen Xu
Ph.D. Student - Learning and Mind Sciences
Lydia Iyeczohua Zendejas
Ed.D. Student-CANDEL Cohort 17
Background
My path to my higher education profession started in 1990 as a student in the UC San Diego Summer Bridge program. It was there that I met a network of caring and dedicated student staff, administrators, and faculty. This network was central to my retention as a Xicana where, at the time, Latinx only represented 9% of the undergraduates. As of fall 2020, Latinx students represent 21% of the undergraduate population. After graduating, I made the conscious choice to apply to a Masters program in higher education in the east coast for two reasons.
Valeria C. Zunino Edelsberg
Ph.D. Candidate, Learning and Mind Sciences
Graduate student at the School of Education at the University of California, Davis. Extensive academic background in education and psychology. Broad professional experience in Chilean public institutions related to education and assessment. Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to interact with children. Motivated, positive and flexible.
Education
Ph.D. in Education, Emphasis in Learning and Mind
Sciences
University of California, Davis, School of Education. Expected
graduation date: September 2023.