Scholars-In-Training

Shannon Aguirre

My passion for helping others and creating a better world is rooted in my experiences, complemented by my ongoing academic background in psychology. I am deeply committed to social justice and aim to utilize my knowledge, alongside skills in data analysis, research, and project management, to make meaningful contributions to my state, city, and university. As a Hispanic and transgender woman, my rich cultural background and professional insights uniquely position me to understand diverse perspectives. I am driven to inspire tomorrow's youth and advocate for a more inclusive, harmonious society. Combining my experiences with my professional skills, I intend to expand and lead endeavors promoting social improvement and boosting equitable outcomes for under-represented and marginalized communities." Below is some of the work I have contributed, including but not limited to two Datathons, fellowships in Law, Societies, and Justice, and a Youth and Community Studies Fellowship. Alongside faculty members Arcelia L. Hernandez, Dr. Becky Pettit, and Dr. Tauheeda Yasin.

Jonathon Briones

Jonathon Briones is now a second-year doctoral student studying sociology at Brown University. Earning his Bachelor of Science and Arts in mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin, Jonathon aims to combine his quantitative background with qualitative methodology to better capture the nuances of sociological processes. His current research looks at the academic success of queer men of color to understand what exactly has positioned them to outperform their straight male and female counterparts. Other research interests of his include high school math education, the transition from high school to post-secondary outcomes, intersectionality, and Latinidad. In his freetime, he enjoys weight-lifting, playing video games, hikes, and crafts such as knitting and upcycling clothes.

Chandel Burgess

Chandel Burgess is a doctoral student studying STEM Education at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a mixed methodologist who centers the experiences of Black girls, teens, and women in STEM spaces. Her current research investigates what mentorship looks like for Black women STEM majors. Before beginning her doctoral studies in STEM Education, Chandel worked as an AP Calculus teacher for 2 years.

She earned a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Houston and an M.S. in Mathematical Science from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Ally Cameron

Allyson (Ally) is a sociology graduate student at Duke University. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with Bachelor’s degrees in Social Work and Sociology with high honors, and a minor in American Sign Language. Ally’s research interests currently center around racial identity formation, racial trauma, and mental health help-seeking behaviors and other coping strategies.

Outside of her research, she enjoys painting and hiking.

Sidney Holland

Sidney Holland is currently an undergraduate double majoring in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin. Sidney is working as an undergraduate research assistant for the Numbers 4 Justice Lab. Her research interests center Black women's experiences with respectability politics, and surveillance.

Paula Lezama

Paula Lezama is a doctoral student of Latin American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. She holds an MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from the University of South Florida, and a BA in Economics from Universidad del Valle, Colombia. Following Sylvia Wynter, she understands uneven geographical and economic progress as well as the untimely death and the production of humans as waste, the peripheries of misery or what Wynter calls the archipelagos of the dyselected, as the product of racial capitalism. These populations are always already outside the community of Man, understanding Man in its current Homo Economicus version, as the western onto-epistemological archetype of the human against which all others are cast as inferior, irrational, unproductive, and incapable of adapting to western modernity. Under homo economicus libidinal reign, instead of the whip, Black fungibility is actualized by Adam Smith’s hidden hand. Thus, her interest in tracing the convergence of Blackness, Poverty, and Homo Economicus in the Longue durée.

Angelica Lopez

Cameron Minor

Hi! I am a junior Government major and AADS minor at The University of Texas at Austin. I have been brought on the team as a research assistant to help with ongoing research projects in the lab. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to work with the Initiative for Law, Societies and Justice as a research assistant for Dr. Yasin and have worked on the Home to Texas research project with Dr. Pettit.

Shania Montúfar

Shania Montúfar is a Sociology PhD student at The University of Texas at Austin with a specialization in Demography. Her research lies at the intersection of demography, political sociology, immigration, and gender studies. Particularly, her research explores the experiences of Latin American migrants in the United States, especially considering variations across lines of gender, generation, and family heritage. Shania is a former Ronald E. McNair and University of Michigan Summer Research Opportunities Scholar, as well as a current Point Foundation Scholar. She is also a Graduate Student Trainee of the Population Research Center (PRC).

Athena Owirodu

Athena Owirodu is a Sociology doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She brings a methodical and quantitative approach to understanding the intersections between wealth, immigration, and population health. More specifically, Athena delves into narratives surrounding health outcome variations within the U.S. Black diaspora by exploring the role of wealth as a dimension of structural racism. A former McNair Scholar, her future goals include collaborating with scholars to enrich quantitative measures in longitudinal surveys. Currently, she serves as a graduate research assistant for Add Health at the Carolina Population Center. Beyond her research endeavors, she enjoys mentoring younger researchers, uses her data skills to support impactful organizations, and finds joy in road-tripping across the country.

Briana Owirodu

Briana Owirodu is a recent graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, where she earned a bachelor's in Biology with a minor in Sociology. As a recent graduate, her work could be used in the lab to help see where other students are coming from when they speak about being Black in STEM. Additionally, she aims to continue her work through the healthcare field to help address health disparities in minority communities.

Olayombo Raji

Olayombo Raji-Oyelade is a PhD student in the Department of African & African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on the ways African and African immigrants navigate themselves as racial bodies in the world through fashion, technology, Black aesthetics and performances.

Outside of her research, she enjoys picnicking when the weather is good, reading novels and spending time with friends.

Michael Reid

Michael Reid is a 3rd-year doctoral student in the Educational Leadership and Policy Department's educational policy and planning program at The University of Texas at Austin. Michael's dissertation work focuses on the intersectional impact of housing segregation and poverty on secondary school outcomes. He is passionate about community organizing and service, alleviating basic needs insecurity for P-20 students, and pursuing policy research and solutions that support at-promise students.

Nikita Rupani

Nikita Rupani is an undergraduate student at The University of Texas at Austin, with a major in Psychology and a minor in Business. Her research interests include public policy and how social constructs influence and shape decision making.

Outside of research, her hobbies include going on long walks, reading, and trying out new recipes

Tyra Timm

Tyra Timm is a PhD Student in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests broadly include utilizing a critical spatial analysis to examine policies that aim to address educational inequities. She is also interested in the identity development of Black students within the educational spaces that they navigate.

Outside of her research, she enjoys playing tennis and spending time with her family, friends and her two dogs- Houdini and Oscar.