Briana is a graduate research assistant with The SMART Collaborative. On the iScholar project, she leads an interdisciplinary team to develop culturally relevant, social action oriented STEM activities for participating middle grades students and provides ongoing instructional support to teachers between iScholar sessions. Briana studies teachers’ beliefs about motivation and the link between students’ social identities and achievement beliefs. Using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, she assists in disseminating research findings in the form of conference proposals, online publications, journal articles and research talks. Briana joined The SMART Collaborative as an undergraduate research assistant while obtaining her Bachelors of Science in Business and Marketing Education. She enjoys substitute teaching and attending cultural events in local communities.