PRISM Research Lab

Graduate Student Researcher

Nicollette Mitchell is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Learning, Teaching & Diversity program at Vanderbilt University with a specialization in Justice & Diversity in Education. She is presently a Dissertation Fellow through the National Academy of Education & Spencer Foundation. Her dissertation research explores the intersectionality of Black women’s experiences as geoscience learners and professions, including the role of pedagogy in shaping identity-affirming educational opportunities.

She earned a B.A. degree in Africana Studies and Geology at Oberlin College as well as a M.S. degree in Geosciences at the University of Arizona. Being the only one (Black, woman, geoscientist, Jamaican…) in most classes led her to pursue a career as a STEM program administrator and DEI professional. She served in Director roles for the Center for Learning, Education & Research at Oberlin and the Office of Equity & Inclusion at Bates College. Even as Nicollette worked on college campuses to create environments where minoritized students, faculty and staff could thrive, she felt pulled to explore connections between Earth, education, and social identity. Nicollette followed that pull and pursued doctoral studies in education to conduct research alongside Black women in the geosciences.

The doctoral degree is an extension of Nicollette’s unwavering passion for global and institutional climate change, in addition to being a way of paying homage to Black Feminist scholars who shaped her trajectory. Research is an opportunity to both envision and transform spaces of teaching and learning in higher education, especially in the geosciences.

In the PRISM Lab, Nicollette served as the lead graduate student investigator in the NSF-funded research partnership project with Sonoma State University, Transformative Inclusion in Postsecondary STEM. She is a contributing author in a forthcoming article to appear in AERA Open, in addition to peer-reviewed conference papers. Nicollette’s dissertation research has been distinguished as a finalist for the Best Student Paper at the International Conference for the Learning Sciences (2024) and a recipient of the Bonsal Applied Education Research award (a dissertation grant from Vanderbilt-Peabody College). She has presented her research at conferences hosted by the American Educational Research Association, American Geophysical Union, and Association for the Study of Higher Education.

While often spending time reading and writing for the academy, Nicollette is a whole person. She enjoys spending her free time at the gym, running, traveling, and exploring local parks and trails with my husband Jahlil and son Jett.