Ash Tea identifies as a Black, neurodivergent, and queer person who

holds a Master of Social Work and a Master of Public Health. Her professional background in mental and behavioral health, social work, and health education contributed to her passion for studying the emotional realm of the undergraduate biology student experience due to the connection between emotion management and mental health. As a doctoral student, she intends to bring awareness to the often overlooked politics of emotion and unjust emotional labor within collegiate science classrooms, how it perpetuates power, privilege, and oppression, and the impact it has on student success.