Amanda Manzanares began her undergraduate studies in creative writing, but a science class led her to the path of geology and a career in researching igneous and metamorphic rocks. A stint with GeoCorps America uncovered her desire to go into teaching. As an Educational Psychology doctoral student specializing in geology at the University of Northern Colorado, she combined her professional passions.

“The creative writing community didn’t have the feel I was looking for, but I walked into a geology classroom and there it was,” Manzanares said.

She found a good working environment at UNC, where she wrote two articles based on her master’s research, including one as first author, “College Students’ Prior Knowledge and Alternative Conceptions Regarding Minerals,” published in the Journal of Geoscience Education in 2023. Manzanares is currently leading two other papers related to her work as a doctoral student. One titled “Insights into Sustainability: Exploring Undergraduates’ Understanding of Food Energy Water Nexus Connections to Climate Change,” was resubmitted for publication in November. She also has participated in numerous manuscripts as a co-author, four of which have been published. Manzanares’ manuscript on food, energy and water, co-authored with Associate Professor Chelsie Romulo and others, recently was published in prestigious journal Nature, DOI: 10.1057/s41599-024-03499-z.

Additionally, she investigates factors that explain why students choose to major and pursue a career in geoscience.

“Geoscience jobs are on the rise, but the field struggles with recruitment and retention. The more I learned about education psychology, the more I wanted to understand what factors predict another and what that means for academic and career choice,” she said.

In addition to her research, she teaches educational psychology to elementary and secondary teachers at UNC and is an episodic instructor at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. She also works as a research assistant for Associate Professor Chelsie Romulo in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Department of Geography, GIS and Sustainability. Professor Kevin Pugh, who is in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences’ School of Psychological Sciences, advises her dissertation. Manzanares said Pugh and Romulo have been wonderful mentors.

“I appreciate them so much. They're scaffolding, helping me become better so they can remove those scaffolds as I gain confidence,” Manzanares said.

Pugh said Manzanares’ dedication is evident in her approach to revising her ideas, writing and models.

“Some students get frustrated or discouraged by revisions, but Mandy doesn't. On one project, she had to learn a new statistical approach and kept working at it until she figured it out,” Pugh said.

He said interest in increasing the number of underrepresented people in science, technology, engineering and math fields has spurred research on why people get into STEM.

“Mandy's looking at unique factors that might be ones introductory courses teachers can target to help develop interest. Her research found that transformative experiences — when students take the content they learn in class and use it in their everyday lives to see the world in meaningful new ways — help explain students’ growth in interest. She found it doesn’t directly predict academic and career choice; it's more that transformative experience plays a role in growing interest and identity in that domain,” he said.

Romulo said Manzanares’ study of STEM education required her to learn a new discipline of theory and skills.

“She has worked extremely hard to manage this shift. The combination of her experience in the field she studies as an education researcher gives her a unique shared perspective with the students she works with and studies,” Romulo said.

Manzanares is a core collaborator and colleague in Romulo’s lab, working on data collection, analysis, manuscripts and conference presentations.

“She added student preconceptions to how we analyzed our dataset on student responses to classroom assessments and applied constructivist theory from education to frame a manuscript about how instructors view student knowledge,” Romulo said.

Romulo said Manzanares’ research could help align with prospective students’ values, interests and intent and help diversify the discipline, which would facilitate innovative problem-solving.