Hello Martel!

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We are your #121 Resident Associates! We are thrilled to be a part of the Martel community and look forward to spending time with you in the commons, in the quad, during study breaks, and around campus. 

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We are an international family: Gabriela grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, Liam in Victoria, Canada, and our son Oscar was born in 2021 in New Orleans. We’ve been at Rice since 2023 and joined Martel at the beginning of 2025.

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At Rice, Gabriela is the Associate Director of the Humanities Research Center, where she facilitates interdisciplinary and collaborative research within the School of Humanities and beyond. She got her PhD in Communication Studies from Northwestern University, with a focus on intercultural communication. While she has been running humanities centers for the past 10 years, she has taught public speaking and courses at the intersection of culture, communication, and business strategy. Gabriela has also worked as a communications consultant and coach. She loves genre fiction, pop culture, and hand-pulled noodles.

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Liam is a lecturer in the School of Humanities where he teaches courses in two programs: Cinema & Media Studies and Politics, Law & Social Thought. His research is about American poverty and politics. Prior to joining Rice, he taught media and cultural studies at Tulane University, and he also got his PhD in Communication Studies from Northwestern. Liam is enthusiastic about baking sourdough, books and shows with lots of political intrigue (recs welcome), and bicycles.

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Oscar goes to a nearby Montessori, where he is working on his Spanish and learning to read and write. On the weekends, he loves going to Hermann Park to play on the “astronaut playground” and baking chocolate chip-and-tahini cookies at home. Oscar is also a regular on the swing set in the quad.

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Please don’t hesitate to join us at mealtimes or to stop by to say hello!

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Gabriela, Liam, and Oscar