Graduate research assistant at UF’s Lastinger Center for Learning and a current PhD candidate in the School of Teaching and Learning, Takeshia Pierre (UF BHS ‘13 and MPH ‘15), has been selected for one of 15 highly competitive annual fellowships with the Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education (CADRE). This nationwide program is a resource network for STEM education researchers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The CADRE Fellows program, which is now in its 15th year, provides capacity-building and networking opportunities for researchers in the early stages of their STEM education careers. The new fellows include doctoral students and postdocs with varying backgrounds and research interests who have a shared commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in preK-12 STEM education.

Pierre’s research focuses on amplifying marginalized students’ and professionals’ voices and experiences through a critical, global, and anti-racist lens. By highlighting identity intersections such as race, gender and culture, her collective goal is to identify and nurture the unique cultural capital of diverse students and encourage equity in STEM.

Pierre was one of only 15 people across the nation who were accepted into this highly competitive annual fellowship. She is the second person in nine years at UF and the first UF science education student to ever receive this honor. “My experience at UF motivated me to apply for competitive opportunities, and I was either encouraged to apply for outside funding or funded directly by UF to travel and present my research across three continents and four countries,” Pierre said. “Being a UF alum really empowered me to dream without limits.”

In the coming year, the new CADRE Fellows will explore career pathways, research dissemination and use, community building and collaboration as well as research funding. They will engage in experiences such as peer mentoring and a mock DRK-12 proposal review led by an NSF program director. They will also collaborate with one another on a career development project.

“The CADRE Fellows program offers a unique opportunity for early career researchers to network with and learn from NSF-funded STEM education awardees from across the country,” said EDC’s Catherine McCulloch, who oversees the program along with Terrell Morton and Jenn Stiles. “It’s an honor to coordinate a program that, in part, is focused on broadening participation within the research community.”

For the full list of the 2024 CADRE Fellows or to learn more about the program, go to www.cadre k12.org.

Takeshia Pierre