Graduate Student

Ilke Bayazitli

Ilke Bayazitli is a doctoral student in the School Psychology program. She received her bachelor's degree in Psychology from Boğaziçi University in 2021 and her master's degree in Psychological Science with a concentration in Social, Personality, and Affective Science from San Francisco State University in 2023. Her work has examined the psychosocial factors associated with the well-being of adolescents, including discrimination based on different identities, educational experiences, time perspective, and substance use.

Ilke's research centers on promoting the well-being of youth,...

Jin Hyung Lim

Jin Hyung Lim is a PhD candidate in the School Psychology Program at the University of California, Berkeley School of Education. Jin Hyung’s research focuses on identifying risk and resilience factors that support the well-being of school members (e.g., students, families, teachers, and school leaders), especially those from minoritized backgrounds. More specifically, he is interested in social and emotional learning (SEL) and multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) as resources and systems that foster resilience among school members. Through his work, he seeks to advance SEL and MTSS...

Carlos Recinos Bernabé

Carlos Recinos Bernabé (he/him) is a doctoral student in the School Psychology Program at the University of California, Berkeley, under advisement of Dr. Frank C. Worrell.

Prior to Berkeley, he received his bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Southern California with a minor in Education and Society. While at USC, he worked as a research assistant at the Center for Education, Identity, and Social Justice, contributing extensively to empower low-income middle school and college students of color in STEM through culturally responsive mentorship.

His research...

Thong Trinh

Thong Minh Trinh is a Berkeley Fellow and PhD student in Education at the University of California, Berkeley. His research sits at the intersection of higher education policy and finance, with particular emphasis on financial aid and student loan programs. Using quantitative methods and quasi-experimental designs, he examines how institutional finances and student-facing policies shape college access, choice, and student outcomes in the United States and internationally.

Thong's recent scholarship spans higher education finance and student decision-making in the United States,...

Rafael Meza Duriez

Rafa is a doctoral candidate in the Language, Literacy and Culture cluster at the Berkeley School of Education. His work focuses on understanding how literacy and technology shape learning in formal and non-formal educational spaces, particularly in rural areas in Latin America. More specifically, Rafa's work seeks to understand how literacy practices shape and are shaped by people's political economy, and how these practices can become windows into the civic projects marginalized communities are trying to build beyond, and sometimes in opposition to, global development projects. Some of...

Rocío Díaz

Rocío Díaz Cerda is a PhD student in Education at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research sits at the intersection of gender, school culture, and educational inequality, with a focus on how young people navigate and experience school life in relation to prevailing gender norms. She is particularly interested in how educational policies and institutional practices shape those norms, and in what it would take for schools to become genuinely safer and more inclusive spaces for all students.

Her work draws on qualitative methodologies and engages with comparative and...

Lia Williams

Lia Williams is a doctoral student in the School Psychology program at the University of California, Berkeley. A California native, she attended Stanford University, where she received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Education. After completing her bachelor’s degree, she earned her M.A. in Special Education from the University of San Francisco while working as an Education Specialist for students with Mild to Moderate Support Needs at a public charter high school in East Palo Alto. A highlight of her teaching career was serving as the advisor for the school’s Black Student Union....

Anthony Whitten

Anthony Whitten is a doctoral student in Cohort 3 of the Leaders for Equity and Democracy program. Anthony’s research interests include access to and equity in graduate study for underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.

Anthony has an education career spanning 21 years, including secondary and higher education. Currently serving as the Director of Diversity Admissions at Berkeley Haas, he works across all Haas undergraduate and graduate degree programs strengthening the diversity partnerships and pipelines used to build diverse classes.

Prior to joining Haas, Anthony served...

Katelin Tharp

Katelin Tharp (she/her) is currently pursuing both her Masters in Education and her Single Subject Teaching Credential in English with additional authorizations in Computer Science and Psychology through the Berkeley Teacher Education Program (BTEP).

Katelin is originally from Mountain View, Calif. Her journey began at Northeastern University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Cognitive Psychology with a minor in English. Her academic career extended internationally during a summer semester at University College London, where she achieved distinction...

Daniel Jovan Pulido

Daniel Jovan Pulido is a master’s student in the Cultural Studies of Sport in Education program at UC Berkeley. His research explores how youth sports can serve as civic infrastructure—bridging education, health, and community development. As President of Merced United, a long-standing youth organization in California’s Central Valley, Jovan leads programs that use sport to strengthen academic engagement, health equity, and social belonging for underserved families.

Jovan’s lived experience shapes his perspective: after three kidney transplants and 19 years on dialysis, he...