Nicole Barry headshot

Nikki Barry

Moore Hall
457 Portola Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095

CV
Accepting Advisees for AY 26-27?

Nikki Barry

Assistant Professor

Dr. Nikki Barry (formerly McDaid) is a citizen of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Fort Hall, Idaho and is also of Paiute and Irish descent. She is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Justice Education in the Department of Education at UCLA with an additional appointment in the Department of American Indian Studies. Trained as a Learning Scientist, she researches: 1) the ways in which a community-based design research project supports Indigenous youth’s relationships with lands and waters, their cultural identity development, and well-being, 2) the cognition of human reasoning and decision-making regarding environmental issues, and 3) how teacher decision-making impacts learning about environmental issues. Nikki earned her PhD in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University, her MA in Teaching from Pacific University, and her BS in Sociology from Northeastern University. She is also a parent of four young children and is a former middle and high school teacher.

Departments

Programs

Areas of Expertise and Advising Interests

Other Affiliations

Education

  • Ph.D. in Learning Sciences, Northwestern University
  • M.A. in Teaching, Pacific University
  • B.S. in Sociology, Northeastern University

Awards, Honors and Fellowships

  • Spencer/National Academy of Education dissertation fellowship
  • Gates Millennium Scholarship/Fellowship
  • Center for Native American and Indigenous Research fellowship (Northwestern)

Select Publications

  • Jadallah, C., Barry, K.M., Germinaro, K., Barry, N. (2025). Building the world anew: On hope in climate change education. Environmental Education Research, 1-17.

  • Marin, A., Barry, N., Bruce, F., White Eyes, R., DeerInWater, K., & Bang, M. (2025). Indigenous Science Education and STEM-related Education. Oxford University Press.

  • McDaid Barry, N. & Bang, M., Bruce, F., Barajas-Lopez, F. (2023). Then the Nettle People won’t be lonely: Recognizing plant personhood in an Indigenous STEAM summer program. Cognition and Instruction.

  • Bruce, F., Bang, M., Lees, A., McDaid, N., Peters, F., & Bushnell, J. (2023). Indigenous Water Pedagogies: Cultivating Relations Through the Reading of Water. Occasional Paper Series, (49).

  • Marin, A., Ambo, T., McDaid-Morgan, N., White Eyes, R., Bang, M. (2020). Enacting Relationships of Kinship and Care in Educational and Research Settings. In: Arshad Ali and Teresa McCarty (Eds) Critical Youth Research in Education: Methodologies of Praxis and Care. Routledge.

  • Bang, M., McDaid-Morgan, N., & Tsoodle, A. (2020). Creating science learning environments in which Indigenous students can thrive. National Science Teaching Association Blog.

  • Bang M., Montaño Nolan C., McDaid-Morgan N. (2018). Strong Families, Strong Nations: Indigenous family engagement. In McKinley E. & Smith L. (Eds) Handbook of Indigenous Education. Springer, Singapore.