Fellows List
Rebeca Villegas
Rebeca Villegas is a dual degree student at the University of Michigan pursuing a Master of Science and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning. She is specializing in environmental justice, land-use and environmental planning, and science, technology and public policy. Villegas looks forward to graduating in May 2020 and applying the skills she has garnered through her degrees to contribute to climate change resiliency efforts in urban and rural communities. Currently, she serves as an Equity Intern for the Office of Sustainability and Innovation for the City of Ann Arbor.
Foundation Sponsor:
C.S. Mott Foundation
Host Organization:
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Reflection Entry:
Fantasia Williams
Fantasia Williams is a graduate of Howard University where she studied Economics and Sociology. She now attends the University of Michigan where she is pursuing a master’s in Environmental Justice as well as a Master of Public Health in Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology. At Michigan, Williams is exploring ways in which minorities can minimize environmental health disparities and environmental injustices in an era of climate change.
Foundation Sponsor:
The JPB Foundation
Host Organization:
National Audubon Society
Reflection Entry:
Shanna Williamson
Shanna Williamson is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Digital Coast Fellow at the National Association of Counties (NACo). Williamson engages in research and outreach that helps coastal counties in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi increase their long-term resilience. Before joining NACo, Williamson worked for the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance where she assisted the organization with community outreach for their Great Neighborhoods Campaign. The campaign focused on reforming Massachusetts’ zoning and permitting laws. Williamson has a master’s degree from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and a bachelor’s in the Geosciences from Skidmore College.
Foundation Sponsor:
Barr Foundation
Host Organization:
Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance
Reflection Entry:
Brett Zeuner
Brett is an MS student in the Environmental Justice track at University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability. His master’s project focuses on distributive justice, using GIS to measure Inequitable distributions of cumulative risk. He is also researching the use of conflict minerals in green technology. This Summer, Brett looks forward to working with the Environmental Grantmakers Association to better understand how social sustainability is conceptualized in environmental philanthropy.
Foundation Sponsor:
C.S. Mott Foundation
Host Organization:
Environmental Grantmakers Association
Kemet Azubuike
Kemet Azubuike resides from Dayton, Ohio and is currently a graduate student at Howard University studying sociology with concentrations in environmental, urban, and economic sociology. Kemet enjoys reading, helping organize communities, watching documentaries, mentoring, meeting new people, and playing a good game of basketball. Kemet plans to use this fellowship experience to aid in his understanding of the socioeconomic effects of renewable energies on low-income communities.
Foundation Sponsor:
11th Hour Project (Schmidt Family Foundation)
Host Organization:
Vote Solar
Reflection Entry:
Ashley Bell
My name is Ashley Bell and I am a Ph.D. Student at Tulane University through the school of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. I am originally from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and completed both my Bachelor and Master degrees at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. The original life was to be a veterinarian, however after completing a study abroad program in South Africa, I realized that my degree could be better used working towards improving public health via environmental health. My passion within environmental health is environmental justice. The merging of social and environmental issues is right up my alley because I wholeheartedly believe that quality of health should not be geographically or status dependent. In my spare time I like to listen to music, read a book (that’s not school related), play with Mylo (my mini dachshund), or sleep.
Foundation Sponsor:
Island Foundation
Host Organization:
New England Grassroots Environmental Fund
Reflection Entry:
Cheryl Bennett
Cheryl Bennett is enrolled in the Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management at the Milano School where she is positing sustainable food systems as a driver of environmental conservation. Agriculture is the largest interface humans have with the environment yet the current industrial agriculture model is based on a linear economy which views waste management and social costs as externalities and not part of production costs. And that is a problem.
Foundation Sponsor:
New York Community Trust
Host Organization:
The Nature Conservancy
Lauren Beriont
Originally from the shores of New Jersey, and with a background in environmental science, I am currently pursuing a Masters in Macro Social Work at the University of Michigan to better work at the intersection of equity and the environment. I am interested in helping fundamentally re-imagine the way people can work together in mutually beneficial ways for community well-being for all.
Foundation Sponsor:
Pisces Foundation
Host Organization:
Pisces Foundation
Reflection Entry:
Sindhu Bharadwaj
Sindhu is an MS student in Environmental Justice and Policy at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources & Environment (SNRE). She received a BA from New York University in Politics and Cultural Studies. At SNRE, Sindhu focuses on developing policy frameworks and recommendations to address issues at the intersection of environment and social inequality in urban contexts. Her professional background is in communications.
Foundation Sponsor:
Barr Foundation
Host Organization:
Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth
Tianna Bruno
I am a Ph.D. student in Geography at the University of California - Davis from Houston, Texas. My research interests include environmental justice and critical race studies. Particularly, I hope to examine state-society relations and how the state engages in activities regarding the uneven distribution of environmental burdens and benefits in the urban setting with the use of mixed-methods. Other than my research, I really like doing conservation work with youth.
Foundation Sponsor:
11th Hour Project (Schmidt Family Foundation)
Host Organization:
Center on Race, Poverty, and Environment
Reflection Entry: