The following is a brief summary of Mikayla’s research experience in her own words. You can find her very first contribution to the CARP blog, part of an ongoing research project focusing on the character of Thomas Jefferson, here. We look forward to reading more of her research in the future!

I have loved history and politics since I early childhood and have been able to further those interests in several ways.  As a congressional intern, I studied Capitol history to provide interesting narratives for constituent tours. Later, as a docent at Drum Barracks Civil War Museum in Los Angeles, I studied the historical politics of California during the War. Since matriculating at Rice in Fall 2017, I served on the Rice Historical Review’s editorial board and developed the Review’s podcast production. As a fellow for the James A. Baker Institute’s 2018 Summer in D.C. Policy Research Internship Program, I conducted research on the cross-connection between character assassination and public memory of historical figures and the public policy of national monuments, focusing on Thomas Jefferson.