Raquel is currently an MS/PhD student in the Geosciences department at University of Massachusetts Amherst and works with Dr. R. Mark Leckie in the Micropaleontology lab. She is a recipient of the Randolph and Cecile Bromery Graduate Fellowship at UMass and was recently awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. Raquel developed her interest in paleoclimatology and paleoceanography as an undergraduate at Brown University and her love for micropaleontology through research experiences at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. For her graduate work Raquel uses planktic foraminifera and other microfossils to study how the Earth’s oceans have changed over time. Specifically, she is interested in how ocean-climate interactions change during times of extreme global warmth, like her all-time favorite geologic age, the Cretaceous. Although she loves research, her favorite part of being a scientist is being a leader and a role model.  She dedicates a lot of time outside the lab to increasing campus inclusivity and equity through graduate student groups like the Graduate Students of Color Association (GSCA) and the Graduate Women in STEM (GWIS). Raquel is a talented vocalist, keeps up with the Kardashians religiously and loves everything pop culture. Read Raquel’s posts.