She is a recent graduate of the University of Oulu's Education and Globalization Master's Programme. Her Master's thesis, Leveraging Architecture and Education: Approaching the Facilitation of Good Learning Environments in Authentic and Emerging Contexts won the 2017 FERA award for Best Master's Thesis in Education. Her undergraduate thesis in Architecture from Virginia Tech, Trust and Choice in the Third Place: A Student Center in Beckley, West Virginia, has also won various interdisciplinary research awards. Besides practicing architecture, Rachel also runs learning environment design workshops for college students in architecture, education, and related fields, as well as general architecture learning lessons in K-12 schools.