PhD Students
The National Academy of Education (NAEd) announced recently two University of Colorado Boulder education scholars, doctoral candidate Danielle Aguilar and alumnus Christopher Saldaña, have been selected for two of the nation’s
Before starting his PhD at 91´«Ă˝, Kyle Kopsick taught social studies at a high school in Quito, Ecuador for roughly five years. This experience greatly impacted his life and guided him to further his learning by joining the doctoral program in educational foundations, policy and practice. Kopsick has received the 91´«Ă˝ School of Education’s 2026 Outstanding Dissertation award.
From a fisheries biologist turned rural middle school science teacher to today a doctoral graduate and teacher educator, Loraine Glidewell’s journey seems to be as winding as a remote river in Colorado’s beautiful backcountry. But
Alexis “Lex” Hunter’s advisors put it simply: the field needs more scholars like her. “Lex is positioning herself to be both a leading theorist and practitioner of community-engaged research,” said her advisors, who nominated her for the School of Education’s Outstanding Graduate in Community Engagement Award.
Two doctoral candidates, Jackquelin “Jackie” Bristol and Alexis “Lex” Hunter, have been selected for National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellowships, one of the most prestigious honors for emerging education scholars. Bristol explores how teachers' access to affordable housing intersects with race, space and public education. Hunter investigates how youth of color in community organizing spaces view healing as intimately connected to social justice.
When Marisa Mendoza-Maurer moved from Hawai’i to Colorado to begin her PhD, she didn’t come alone. She brought with her a husband, two young children and a decade's worth of classroom experience as a secondary English teacher. The leap, across an ocean and into a rigorous doctoral program, was nothing short of monumental.