Fellows List
Austin Martin
Austin Martin is a PhD student in the Department of Geography and Urban Studies at Temple University where he focuses on the political ecology of bees in cities and green gentrification. He has an M.S. in Conservation Ecology and Environmental Justice from the University of Michigan where he researched native bees in Detroit and has worked as a state apiary inspector for the state of Pennsylvania.
Kamerhon Moses
Kamerhon is a second-year graduate student pursuing a dual degree (M.S./M.S.E) within the SEAS and Mechanical Engineering Departments. After undergrad, he wanted to dedicate his education to advancing the progress in international development and emergency management through the integration of clean energy systems. He chose the Sustainable Energy Systems track at the University of Michigan to further educate himself on both the techno-economic and cultural dynamics of current interventions in underrepresented communities.
Ian Ortiz
I am a first-generation scholar, pursuing an Environmental Justice Masters degree from SEAS, and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Manager of the University of Michigan Campus Farm. Denver, Colorado is my familiar home, as someone whose ancestors have struggled for generations against the systems of colonial normativities that are reproduced within America. This is the lens that I bring to my career and studies within food justice, Indigenous sovereignty, and geospatial studies.
Kayla Patel
Kayla is pursuing a Master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University. She received her Bachelor’s of Science with an Ecology, Behavior and Evolution major at University of California, Los Angeles. Her interests include environmental health, climate justice, and sustainable water systems.
Melisa Perut
Melisa is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. Her interdisciplinary research deals with human systems, global political economy, global governance, and the global environment. She received her M.Sc. in Geography from King’s College London in 2015, and her thesis focused on environmental justice and social movements. She received her B.Sc. in Global and International Affairs from the Middle East Technical University and the State University of New York at Binghamton.
Liz Plascencia
Liz Plascencia is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale School of the Environment, specializing in Water Resource Science and Management. Before Yale, Liz worked across the Pacific (Hawai’i, Tonga, and Fiji) on coastal stewardship, climate adaptation, and plastic pollution mitigation. As a Queer, First-Generation Mexican American, Liz aspires to integrate environmental justice throughout coastal management and climate resiliency projects. Liz is from Los Angeles, California and earned her B.S in Geological Earth Sciences from Dickinson College as a Posse Scholar.
Sanchez Rolle
Growing up on the island of Exuma in The Bahamas, Sanchez has always enjoyed the outdoors. He is a 2018 graduate of the historic Tuskegee University where he obtained one degree in Biology and another in Food and Nutritional Sciences. As a current PhD student, he is focused on serving underserved communities in regards to environmental public health challenges. Sanchez enjoys taking road trips and during his free time, discovering new places to visit.
Sara Saucedo
Antoinette Shirley
Antoinette Shirley is a graduate student at Michigan State University (MSU) working towards a PhD in Forestry. She is of Mexican, Native and White descent. She is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and has worked with the tribe on various research projects related to culturally important animal species. She is a graduate research assistant for the Native American Institute and the Administrative Coordinator for the Indigenous Graduate Student Collective at MSU.
Tabitha Sookdeo
Tabitha Sookdeo is originally from Guyana in South America and grew up on Sint Maarten in the Dutch Caribbean. Tabitha completed her undergraduate studies in environmental justice and has been heavily involved in urban farming, migrant farmworkers’ rights, and refugee resettlement. She is passionate about finding creative solutions for climate adaptation through a global environmental justice lens. Tabitha is a joint degree student at the Yale School of the Environment and Vermont Law School.