# People ## Principal Investigator [### Adriana Umaña-Taylor ](/people/adriana-umana-taylor)Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot Professor of Education Dr. Adriana Umaña-Taylor is Professor of Education in the Harvard Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Her research, guided by developmental and socio-cultural ecological frameworks, focuses on understanding how individual and contextual... ![adriana-umana-taylor](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-01/adriana-umana-taylor-114263.jpg?itok=mN7kvrCJ) ## Current Lab Members [### Priscilla Beltran ](/people/priscilla-beltran) Priscilla Beltran (she/her/hers) is a recent graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she earned her Ed.M. in Education Policy & Analysis. Before her time at HGSE, she received her B.S. in Political Communication from Emerson College... ![Beltran Headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/Beltran.P_SR_C32614236%202%20%281%29.jpg?h=ef9da684&itok=1leHaA6z) [### Mamfatou Baldeh ](/people/mamfatou-baldeh) Mamfatou Baldeh is a doctoral student in the Human Development, Learning, and Teaching concentration at Harvard's Graduate School of Education (HGSE). Her interests include intersectional identity development (e.g., gender, religion, socioeconomic status)... ![Mamfatou Baldeh](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/gse-umana-taylorlab/files/img-9124.jpg?itok=q2mkfytj) [### Keshav Bhatt ](/people/keshav-bhatt) Keshav recently completed his Master's in Human Development at Harvard with distinction, receiving the prestigious "Intellectual Contribution Award". Prior to this return to academia, he has a rich 12-year background in advancing psychological well-being... ![Keshav Bhatt](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-02/Keshav%20Bhatt.png?itok=HtTqRBWm) [### Sophie Hölscher ](/people/sophie-holscher) Dr. Sophie Hölscher is a visiting research scholar from Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology, with their doctoral research focusing on the role of autonomy and belonging in the school context for adolescents’... ![Sophie Hölscher](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/gse-umana-taylorlab/files/foto_webseit_sophie_hoelscher.jpg?h=66fee8d9&itok=lynnSAwq) [### Jamie Johannsen ](/people/jamie-johannsen) Jamie Johannsen is Ed.M. graduate of the Learning & Teaching program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. She is interested in how teachers talk to students about race, ethnicity, and class inequality, and how learning about these issues can inspire... ![Jamie Johannsen](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/gse-umana-taylorlab/files/jamie_johannsen_headshot.jpeg?itok=f0CDgLyA) [### Natalie King-Shaw ](/people/natalie-king-shaw) Natalie King-Shaw (she/her/ella) is a Ph.D. student at Harvard in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology (SHBT) and a Doctoral Research Fellow in the Speech and Language (SAiL) Literacy Lab at the MGH Institute for Health Professions. Natalie aims... ![Natalie King-Shaw](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/gse-umana-taylorlab/files/img_4176.jpg?itok=AlHKyHHG) [### Melina Melgoza ](/people/melina-melgoza) Melina Melgoza (she/her/ella) was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and is a current PhD student and teaching fellow for multiple courses at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prior to starting the doctoral program, she received her B.A... ![Melina Melgoza](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/gse-umana-taylorlab/files/melgozam.jpg?itok=wGeAUgLK) [### Ishani Parekh ](/people/ishani-parekh) Ishani is an Ed.M. graduate from the Education Policy & Analysis program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. Prior to her studies at Harvard, Ishani was a high-school English teacher which grounded her commitment to addressing educational... ![Ishani Parekh](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/gse-umana-taylorlab/files/img_7795_2_1.jpg?itok=5-Vg28Ml) [### Natalie Sarmiento ](/people/natalie-sarmiento) Natalie Sarmiento is a Ph.D. student and presidential scholar fellowship recipient at the Harvard Graduate School of Education with a concentration in Human Development, Learning, and Teaching. Natalie received their B.A. from Stanford University where... ![Natalie Sarmiento Headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2026-02/Natalie_Headshot_2025.jpg?itok=l5A64AVP) [### Megan Satterthwaite-Freiman ](/people/megan-satterthwaite-freiman) Megan Satterthwaite-Freiman is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research interest include processes and factors that contribute to ethnic-racial identity development (e.g., ethnic-racial socialization, curriculum... ![Megan Satterthwaite-Freiman](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/gse-umana-taylorlab/files/hgcheadshotslongwood2227_-_copy.jpg?itok=g1GQOSvI) [### Ariel Tan ](/people/ariel-tan)Doctoral Student Guicheng “Ariel” Tan is a Ph.D. student and presidential scholar at Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a researcher, Ariel is interested in the role of cultural integration in people’s social and cognitive development. Her previous work includes... ![Headshot Guicheng "Ariel" Tan](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/gse-umana-taylorlab/files/ariel_headshot_1x1.jpg?itok=miT-5RYa) [### Helen Zhu ](/people/helen-zhu) Helen received her master's degree in Human Development and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2024. She is interested in exploring intersectionality and identity development among Asian international students and how mediums such... ![Helen Zhu](/sites/g/files/omnuum7211/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-03/Helen%20Zhu.jpg?h=a58c70c2&itok=sDfdDuhm) ## AERID Lab Alums Open all sections Close all sections ### Postdoctoral Fellows expand\_more Dr. Alaysia Brown, Postdoctoral Fellow, Inequality in America Initiative, Harvard University. Currently: Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Kristia Wantchekon, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2021-2022. Currently: Assistant Professor, Georgetown University. Dr. M. Dala Safa, National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2018-2022. Currently: Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Michael Sladek, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2018-2022. Currently: Assistant Professor, The University of Oklahoma. Dr. Elana McDermott, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2017-2020. Currently: Research and Policy Analyst, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Dr. Olga Kornienko, Arizona State University Sanford School Postdoctoral Fellow, 2016- 2017. Currently: Associate Professor, George Mason University. Dr. Sara Douglass Bayless, Arizona State University Sanford School Postdoctoral Fellow, 2013 -2015. Currently: Vice President, OMNI. Dr. Nicole Hollis, Arizona State University Sanford School Postdoctoral Fellow, 2014-2015. Dr. Katharine Zeiders, Arizona State University Sanford School Postdoctoral Fellow, 2012 to 2014. Currently: Professor, University of Arizona. Dr. Russell Toomey, Arizona State University Prevention Research Center Postdoctoral Fellow, 7/2011 to 10/2012. Currently: Professor, University of Arizona. Dr. Aerika Brittian, Arizona State University Prevention Research Center Postdoctoral Fellow, 2010- 2012. Currently: Associate Professor, University of California, Riverside. ### Doctoral Students expand\_more Dr. Shandra Jones, Harvard Graduate School of Education. Currently: Executive Special Projects, Center for Community Self-Help. Dr. Ashley Ison, Harvard Graduate School of Education. Currently: Assistant Professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Development, San Francisco State University. Dr. Stefanie Martinez-Fuentes, Arizona State University. Currently: Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Gladys Aguilar, Harvard Graduate School of Education. Currently: Assistant Professor, School of Education, California State University, Channel Islands.. Dr. Diamond Bravo, Arizona State University. Currently: Assistant Professor, University of California, Riverside. Dr. Chelsea Derlan, Arizona State University. Currently: Associate Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Edna Alfaro, Arizona State University. Currently: Professor, Texas State University. Dr. Mayra Bámaca, Arizona State University. Currently: Associate Professor, University of California, Merced.