Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center

New research from our group brings encouraging news for future doctors: Disclosing mental health challenges, including bipolar disorder, does not negatively impact medical school applicant rankings, and can be viewed positively when used to explain lower academic performance.

tinyurl.com/uspbtjt9

Dr. Malcolm is known as a trailblazer, but she was advocating for inclusion before there was even a trail to blaze.

The RISE Center exists because of the foundation she built through more than 40 years of advocacy.

Fifteen individuals including RISE ambassadors and researchers, pose for a photo with Shirley Malcolm and RISE direct Sara Brownell.

The RISE Center was lucky to get to have a conversation with Dr. Shirley Malcolm, who has been a national leader and advocate for inclusion for over 40 years, currently as Director of the SEA CHANGE initiative at @aaas.org. "Failure just means that we haven't succeeded... yet." 🧪🎓👩🏾‍🔬

A handout from AAAS and SciLine including five tips for scientists when speaking with reporters.

Finally, we received great tips on how scientists can be most effective when talking about their research with journalists! We look forward to more opportunities to share our science with a broader audience.

Mary Kahraman standing next to a screen displaying her poster. She is surrounded by black curtains.

Benjamin Chan standing next to a screen displaying his poster. He is surrounded by black curtains.

Tasneem Mohammed standing next to a screen displaying her poster. She is surrounded by black curtains.

Baylee Edwards standing next to a screen displaying her poster. She is surrounded by black curtains.

Finally, graduate students Baylee Edwards, Benjamin Chan, Tasneem Mohammed, Jynx Pigart, and Mary Kahraman all presented their research and competed for the best student presentation prize--we are so proud of the high-quality and important work our students have done!

Six members of a trivia team sit around a table with a black tablecloth and plates of nachos. There are about 100 other people in the large conference center room with them.

We put together team #TheLastChip to compete in AAAS trivia! While we didn't win, we learned a lot about journalism and Arizona history!

Katey Cooper (Left) and Olivia Davis (right) standing next to a yellow podium with "ASU" written on it in red letters. They are presenting a slide from their presentation including a quote from a student reflecting on how they felt less negative about their own science failures after using the repository.

Katey Cooper and Olivia Davis presented on Failsafe science (risecenter.asu.edu/fail-safe) including evidence that this repository is having a positive effect on graduate students!

Photograph of session organizer Sara Brownell (right), and speakers Joe graves (Left), Liz Barnes (Center left), and Erin Rowland Schaffer (center right) sitting behind a table with a black tablecloth and two microphones

RISE center #AAASmtg recap:

RISE director Sara Brownell organized a session named “Bridging ideological divides in science” with speakers Joe Graves, @lizbarnes.bsky.social, and @docrowschaef.bsky.social highlighting the need for dialogue rather than deficit when discussing controversial topics.

50 top voices to follow in higher education for 2026 Meet the Top 50 Voices in Higher Education 2026. From educators and innovators driving insight, leadership, and global impact.

RISE center director Dr. Sara Brownell is one of the top 50 voices to follow in Higher education!

"Her research challenges assumptions, informs national teaching practices, and ensures that evidence-based innovation genuinely serves all students."

Read more about Sara here:
tinyurl.com/yu7dtfuf

Aliya and Molly pose together in front of a table displaying RISE center information

So proud of Molly Budhiraja and Aliya Hashim for representing the RISE Ambassadors at ASU's First Gen Zone 2026 conference last week. Plus, see some of the initiatives our RISE ambassadors are doing to increase connection among first generation students on campus.

RISE grad students joined the first-ever Future of Learning Community (FOLC) Fest at ASU! We presented on topics our labs have been working on, ranging from active learning for undergrads with depression to faculty views on providing disability accommodations.

Join the conversation! Established scientists, reply with a story of a time you failed (and why it wasn't the end of the world).

Behind every successful scientist is a trail of rejected ideas, failed experiments, and self-doubt. We created 40 Fail-Safe Science videos to normalize the struggles scientists face during grad school. If you’ve wondered whether you belong in science, this is for you. risecenter.asu.edu/fail-safe

We just published a piece on the effectiveness of extended test time to accommodate students with disabilities. Check it out and share your thoughts: what accommodations have you seen (or used personally) that actually make a difference in your courses?

@fail-safe-science.bsky.social

ASU's RISE Mental Health Div. is launching Fail-Safe Science, a project to normalize challenges in grad school. Check it out: risecenter.asu.edu/fail-safe

Link to the trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Ue...

Link to the podcast: www.podbean.com/pw/pbblog-m5...

How are you teaching evolution? A study with a naturalistic design with multiple instructors across the U.S. shows that you need to show the potential compatibility between evolution and religion with conflict reducing practices. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Instructor-perceived benefits and costs of inviting students to voluntarily answer questions in large science courses | Advances in Physiology Education | American Physiological Society In large undergraduate science courses, instructors often invite students to voluntarily answer questions (VANQ) in front of the class for a variety of pedagogical reasons. However, it is unclear what...

Hey college science instructors: Why do you ask students to answer questions in front of the class? A new publication by former PhD student Erika Nadile explores reasons for why science instructors do- and do not- call on volunteers to answer questions!
journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10....

Riley Pizza and Ben Chan will be presenting "An exploration of science faculty motivation in providing student accommodations across institution types."
@sabercommunity.bsky.social

Olivia Davis will be presenting "Fail-Safe Science: A video repository to promote wellbeing among science graduate students."

At the Sunday poster session, Mary Kahraman will be presenting "Academic Event Affect Theory of Depression: A Cognitive Theory Explaining How Academic Events Can Exacerbate Depressive Symptoms"

At the poster session on Friday evening, Tasneem Mohammed will be presenting "The impact of aspects of academia on science faculty depression."

Sara Brownell presenting "Undergraduate science students respond positively to an instructor collecting and sharing aggregated class demographic data from a survey."

Mary Kahraman presenting "Adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies deployed by U.S. science graduate students when encountering stressors in research,"

Check out the posters from the RISE Center at SABER 2025! Thursday night poster session will feature Jynx Pigart presenting on "Undergraduates in STEM fields and women report worse mental health than non-STEM majors and men,"

The EvMed Assessment: A test for measuring student understanding of core concepts in evolutionary medicine AbstractBackground and objectives. Universities throughout the USA increasingly offer undergraduate courses in evolutionary medicine (EvMed), which creates

⁉️🧬Do you teach evolutionary medicine? Any idea if your students understand the big ideas of evolutionary medicine? Use our freely available assessment to find out.
academic.oup.com/emph/article...

@sabercommunity.bsky.social

Webinar April 17th, 9 am PT/ 10 am MT
Dr. Park, Dr. Travers, and Dr. Google will be discussing Black students, Religion, and STEM: Exploring the Intersections

#SABER #STEM #BIOLOGY #education #students

🎙️ New APS Publications Podcast episode!
Baylee A. Edwards & Dr. Sara Brownell discuss how sharing aggregated class demographic data in high-enrollment physiology courses boosts inclusivity and strengthens student-instructor relationships.

t.co/5QEzMTRpwg

Trans researchers under attack: LGBTQ+ biologists face hostile work environment Largest survey of LGBTQ+ biologists finds 40% of trans and gender-nonconforming, and 20% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer researchers, experience hostility, intimidation or offensive behaviour at w...

Straight from @Nature and @CooperBioEdLab:

The largest survey of LGBTQ+ biologists finds that 40% of trans and gender-nonconforming and 20% of LGBQ researchers face hostility, intimidation, or offensive behavior at work.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

"Depressed, But Doing My Best: How Professors’ Openness can benefit students" Conversations Unfiltered · Episode

Step into the conversation with Conversations Unfiltered! Now streaming on Spotify, Pandora, and iHeartRadio.

open.spotify.com/episode/2yAk...

NOW STREAMING 🤩

Conversations Unfiltered is LIVE! Check out our first episode: "Depressed, But Doing My Best: How Professors’ Openness can benefit students."

❓Is there an upside to revealing depression in a classroom?

#depression #mentalhealth #highered #STEM
media.rss.com/conversation...