As Research Assistant, Mahala is working to analyze data collected about student learning outcomes of Wikipedia-based assignments.

Mahala earned a masters in sociology, and graduate certificate in advanced feminist studies at the University of Massachusetts, where she is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology. Her dissertation research examines mothers’ experiences of making decisions around schooling for their children. She has assisted and taught a range of courses while at UMass, and is currently collaborating on a reader for teaching gender and sexuality in the 21st century classroom, Gendered Lives, Sexual Beings: A Feminist Anthology (2017).

In her free time, Mahala enjoys hiking and listening to live music in western Massachusetts.