Grace Bennett-Pierre, PhD

Dr. Grace Bennett-Pierre studies how environments shape the cognitive and motivational factors that contribute to learning throughout the lifespan. Using mixed methods approaches, she investigates fiber arts as a context for practicing non-rigid spatial skills (e.g., thinking about bending, folding, and knotting), and how non-rigid spatial skills support STEM learning. She is also interested in understanding how caregivers and educators shape child and adult learners’ challenge-seeking and STEM self-efficacy. A throughline in Dr. Bennett-Pierre’s work is understanding the role gender plays in spatial skill and STEM motivation development.

Dr. Bennett-Pierre received a BA in Psychology from Wellesley College before earning an PhD in Developmental Psychology with a Quantitative Concentration from Temple University. Prior to working UNM, she was a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. There, she worked with an interdisciplinary team of educators and researchers to understand how people learn climate science from NOAA’s Science Science On a Sphere®, a 6-foot spherical display installed in museums around the world. Although new to New Mexico – she grew up primarily in North Carolina and Wisconsin - Dr. Bennett-Pierre is delighted to be in Albuquerque and is excited to work with UNM students, colleagues, and community members on new research, learning, and teaching endeavors.