Research Experience

Project Manager

University of Washington

imPACTO Lab, September 2025 - Present

As project manager, I facilitate and support the development of a Cultural Sustainment Toolbox, an effort to transform parent coaching from culturally adapted interventions to culturally sustaining practices. The toolbox includes theoretical grounding in psychology, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and anti-oppressive practice frameworks.

I also support leading team meetings, coordinating community advisory board meetings in partnership with organizations in Imperial Valley, CA, and oversee a mixed-methods video study coding 72 caregiver-child videos, training students to an 80% reliability standard.

    • Organize team workflows by creating meeting agendas, managing Zoom links, and coordinating communication across Lab projects.

    • Arrange and manage 72 caregiver–child video assignments.

    • Developed a comprehensive video-coding training protocol for research trainees.

    • Schedule and led recurring video coding training meetings to support student learning.

    • Train students to achieve an 80% interrater reliability standard in video coding.

Pre-Doctoral Research Fellowship

San Diego State University

Summer 2025

As a Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Research Fellow, I participated in a Summer Research opportunity at San Diego State University, participating in doctoral-level research and scholarship. This included exposure to research methods, maximal hands-on involvement, exposure to disciplinary knowledge at the doctoral level, and the benefit of a faculty mentor. 

My summer research experience included taking lead on a mixed methods video analysis project titled: Strength-Based Approaches to Caregiver-Child Interactions in Autism: A Mixed Methods Video Analysis.

    • Drafted research proposal, including literature review and proposed study methods.

    • Screened over 80 caregiver-child videos across three research studies in Spanish, English and Korean for quality.

    • Adapted a video-coding sheet, including refined observational definitions and coding categories.

    • Created an Excel-based data tracking system for video observation analysis (e.g., video name, length, language, assigned coder, coding progress).

    • Developed a comprehensive video-coding training protocol for research trainees.

Research Assistant II

San Diego State University

imPACTO Lab, 2024 - August 2025

As a research assistant, I helped contribute to imPACTO: Partnering for Autism Focused Social Communication Intervention with Transborder Latine Caregivers. 

A major role I helped contribute to was working alongside my PI and promotora to adapt Parents Taking Action (PTA), a psychoeducational intervention that teaches Latino parents ways to support their autistic child’s development and advocate for their needs. 

    • Screened over 24 participants for imPACTO inclusion criteria.

    • Analyzed qualitative data utilizing dedoose software.

    • Adapted Spanish PTA materials, including presentation slides and worksheets, integrated content into the LiveBinder platform, and edited program videos.

Graduate Research Assistant

California State University, Long Beach

CARE Lab, August 2023 - June 2025

As a graduate research assistant, I was part of the Community Autism Research for Equity (CARE) LAB. I participated in examining parent engagement within a community effectiveness trial of an early intervention for autism called Project ImPACT. 

In the CARE Lab I also began in the initial stages of a new NIH-funded study called Characterizing Latino Caregiver Engagement in Early Intervention Services for Autism.

During my time as a graduate research assistant, I also helped mentor undergraduate students in my Lab.

    • Conducted observational video coding of over 20 early intervention sessions.

    • Supported Institutional Review Board (IRB) application process.

    • Assisted in development of English/Spanish materials (e.g., consent forms, surveys, flyers) for NIH-funded study.

    • Provided mentorship to over 6 undergraduate students for research poster presentations and travel grant applications.

Independent Research

University of California, Santa Cruz

Spanish Studies Capstone Project, 2020

Coming Soon

The Humanities Institute Research Fellowship

University of California, Santa Cruz

2020

Coming Soon

Building Belonging Fellowship

University of California, Santa Cruz

2020

Coming Soon