Maria Jose Talayero Schettino, MD, MS
Maria Jose, a Mexican DrPH candidate in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at The George Washington University, combines medical expertise with a passion for environmental advocacy in her research and professional projects.
Brandon Rothrock, MA
Brandon Rothrock (he/him) is a queer, (dis)abled geographer hailing from New Jersey. He holds a B.S. in Geography from Penn State University and a M.A. in Geography from West Virginia University. He is a first-year Geography PhD student and EmPOWERment NSF Research Trainee at The Ohio State University studying human-environment interactions and sustainable energy systems.
Aalayna R. Green
Aalayna R. Green is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Natural Resources & the Environment, with affiliations in the Department of Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies, at Cornell University. She obtained her B.S. in Zoology from Michigan State University. Green is a Sloan Scholar and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.
Ufuoma Ovienmhada
Ufuoma (oo-fwo-ma) Ovienmhada is an engineer by education, and remote sensing scientist by training, harnessing community-based research methods to advance the design and application of satellite remote sensing technology for environmental justice. She is a PhD candidate in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT.
Wellington Onyenwe, PhD, MPH
Wellington Onyenwe is currently serving as a Health Scientist, Environmental Toxicologist and Public Health Emergency Responder at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as consulting ongoing research projects with the Environmental Protection Agency/Food and Drug Administration. His talents have led him to lend technical assistance to Exposure Science and Emergency Response matters including the Ebola, Zika, Flint, Monkeypox, EVALI Responses, amongst other projects, in various capacities and roles.
Timnit Kefela, PhD, MSc
Timnit Kefela is an Eritrean American environmental scientist and educator who seeks to better understand (micro)plastic pathways, fates and impacts in effort to inform and design liberatory and community-driven infrastructural solutions for pollution and waste management. She holds a BSc and MSc in Biology from Rutgers University-Camden and was the first Black woman to receive her PhD in Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara.
Mokshda Kaul, MA
Trained as an economist, Mokshda received her master’s and bachelor’s degree in economics from Mumbai University in India. Currently, she is a PhD candidate in the PhD in Sustainable Energy program at the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. While her motivating research question relates to understanding the process of policy design, the mainstay of her research interests lies in the justice and equity implications of the clean energy transition.
Liliana Sierra Castillo, MS
Lili (she/her) is a Honduran Ph.D. candidate at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. As an interdisciplinary seafood scientist, she merges her expertise in marine ecology, fishery sciences, social sciences, and anthropology to unravel the intricate dynamics of marine social-ecological systems. With a profound commitment to environmental justice, Lili’s research revolves around small-scale fisheries and aquaculture.
Jose Ramon Becerra Vera
Jose Ramon Becerra Vera is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Purdue University, working in the Farmer Learning, Agriculture, Culture, Humanities, and Social science laboratory. He specializes in the political ecology of pollution, uneven exposure, and environmental and climate justice. Currently a National Geographic Explorer, he collects dissertation field data with citizen scientists in Southern California’s Inland Empire, examining uneven exposure to wildfire smoke and logistics transportation pollution.
Laura Diaz, MPH
Laura is a Ph.D. student in Environmental Health Sciences at UC Berkeley where she studies how biomarkers of mitochondrial dysfunction can shed light on the underpinnings between exposure to social and environmental stressors on atopic disease among children in frontline environmental justice communities.
Pradnya Garud, PhD, MS
Pradnya Garud is an environmental health data equity strategist for the Oregon Health Authority in the Data and Epidemiology Unit. Pradnya completed a Ph.D. in geography from the School of Geography, Development & Environment at the University of Arizona and received a Master of Science in Environmental Sciences from Mumbai University. Her scholarly work has engaged with human and environmental relationships, and her research interests include social movements, political ecology, and environmental justice.
Greer Hamilton, PhD, MSW
Greer Hamilton (she/her/hers) is a Transitional Postdoctoral Fellow and incoming Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Her research interests focus on exploring how systems of oppression inform and shape the urban built environment and people’s relationship to places of meaning (e.g., neighborhoods).