David Esparza, Ph.D. is an NSF STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellow (NSF-DGE – #2514310) in the Department of Physics at Drexel University. As a biology education researcher, Dave's research examines how structural, social, and contextual factors shape experiences and outcomes in biology learning settings. Across field-based, laboratory, and classroom contexts, he uses social network analysis, mixed methods, and machine learning to study how students interact, learn, and persist in STEM.