Sierra is a History Ph.D. candidate where she serves as an Ohio State University Dissertation Fellow, during which she will complete her dissertation examining the history of Black women's activism in her home state of Minnesota. Her research interests include the civil rights movement, Black feminisms and Black midwestern activism. She has presented work at premier research conferences namely the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) and Organization for American Historians (OAH). 

Aligning with her passion for public history, Sierra served as the Managing Editor for Picturing Black History during the 2025-2026 academic year, a site that publishes public-facing essays about Black life & history. Her first co-curated history exhibit debuts in October 2026, which honors the first Black woman Ph.D graduate in her department. From 2025-2026, she served as the National Publications Director for the Association of Black Women Historians (ABWH), where she also sat on the ABWH Bibliography Committee and helped launch a book database on Black women’s history. Outside of academia, Sierra enjoys running, horseback riding, reading fiction, and spending time with her cat Simba. 

Dissertation chairs: Drs. Tiyi Morris and Hasan Jeffries 

Relevant Teaching Experience: 

• Instructor of record for Intro to Modern U.S. History (SU25, AU25, and SP26)

Selected Publications and Book Reviews

• "A Mother's Power: The Bravery of Mamie Till Mobley" in Picturing Black History: Photographs and Stories that Changed the World (2024)
• The Brave Court Testimony of Mose Wright

• Keisha Blain. Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America. Journal of Mississippi History 85, No. 1-2  (Spring/Summer, 2023): 94-95

• Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar. Black Movement: African American Urban History since the Great Migration. North Carolina Historical Review 103, No. 2 (Spring, 2026): 208-209