Royce Olarte is PhD candidate at the University of California Santa Barbara. He received his B.S. in Mathematics from La Sierra University, his M.S. in Mathematics for Teachers from Portland State University, and his M.A. in Education from the University of California Santa Barbara. His research interests are in higher education and mathematics education. In particular, he examines the experiences of underrepresented mathematics graduate students and how they transition to faculty positions. He looks at how professional identities and mental models of teaching are developed during graduate education.