Fellows List
Gabriel Jones
Gabriel Jones is a Southern California native who has steadily moved east over time. As program coordinator with the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA), and proud member of the inaugural cohort of Environmental Fellows, he now assists with planning and coordination for the Fellows Program as well as EGA signature events and communications. During his time as a fellow at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, he worked for the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program to provide guidance to undergraduate students on navigating through their research placements and around campus resources, lead seminars on critical discussions of equity and the environment, and plan the 2017 Ann Arbor Diversity Forum. Gabriel received his Master’s in Environmental Justice and Master’s of Urban Planning from the University of Michigan and his Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Foundation Sponsor:
C.S. Mott Foundation
Host Organization:
Vision for a Sustainable Environmental Future
Joanna Lehrman
Joanna Lehrman works on strategies for effective engagement with communities impacted by the restoration of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids. She prepares recommendations for how to fund inclusive engagement strategies around river restoration. She also works with the foundation to develop organizational Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies based on best practices, community, and board input. Joanna is a recent graduate from University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources & Environment with a Master’s in Landscape Architecture.
Foundation Sponsor:
Wege Foundation
Host Organization:
Wege Foundation
Erik Martinez
Erik is working to support the organization’s goal to protect special places located throughout the state of Massachusetts. With the Trustees, he has been able to help develop policies that will help guide Trustees employees on issues dealing with invasive species and land use concerns, as well as assisting with field surveys of sensitive and rare species found on their properties. Erik is a second year Master’s student at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara.
Foundation Sponsor:
Island Foundation
Host Organization:
Trustees of Reservations
Caroline Muraida
Caroline Muraida is a first-year Ph.D. student at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Science. Her research investigates the transgenerational health impacts of climate-related extremes. At the NRDC, Caroline authored a policy brief for the planned creation of an equity-centered, municipally-managed electric vehicle car share program in the City of New York. In addition, she contributed to research efforts on the scope of contaminants in public water systems across the United States. With WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Caroline worked with organizers conducting an urban heat island effects study as part of the larger Northern Manhattan Climate Action Plan. Caroline has a master’s in Environmental Science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Foundation Sponsor:
New York Community Trust
Host Organization:
Natural Resources Defense Council
Kiara Ott
At the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA), Kiara helps plan distance learning tours to Cuba and Southern Africa. She also assists in communication strategies among all members of the Environmental Fellows Program, and works on developing the EGA website’s resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Kiara recently graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Master’s in Environmental Health.
Foundation Sponsor:
Environmental Grantmakers Association
Host Organization:
Environmental Grantmakers Association
Christianah Oyengua
As the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory Analyst, Christianah acquires, organizes, manages and analyzes citywide GHG emissions data, and contributes to drafting the GHG Inventory report for the City of New York. She is a doctoral candidate at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) School of the Environment studying Environmental Science, Policy and Risk Management.
Foundation Sponsor:
New York Community Trust
Host Organization:
New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability
Urooj Raja
For The Solutions Project, Urooj is developing a policy tracking infrastructure to help staff make better organizational decisions, and working to enhance an existing story-telling tool. The story-telling tool is a national map that breaks down how states in the U.S. can take a path to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. Her work focuses on user accessibility, simplicity, and to help define how the map will be used. Urooj is a doctoral student in environmental sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Foundation Sponsor:
11th Hour Project (Schmidt Family Foundation)
Host Organization:
The Solutions Project
Adrien Salazar
Adrien is the Community Energy and Seed Democracy Intern at the Sustainable Economies Law Center. He is supporting the organizationâs seed democracy campaign, outreaching to farmer networks, designing a project to assess the seed saving, sharing, and seed production needs of farmers of color and immigrant farmers in California. He is also working with the organizationâs community energy program researching community-owned renewable projects and community engagement best practices to include in a legal guide to community-owned renewable energy. Adrien just graduated with his MEM degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Foundation Sponsor:
11th Hour Project (Schmidt Family Foundation)
Host Organization:
Sustainable Economies Law Center
Whitney Smith
Whitney is working on creating a community fact sheet on the Clean Power Plan in an effort to make this regulation more understandable and digestible to support community advocacy efforts. She will also under-take a GIS mapping project on methane exposure. Whitney just completed her Master’s degree in Environmental Justice at University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources & Environment.
Foundation Sponsor:
New York Community Trust
Host Organization:
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Nancy Toure
Fellowship Year:
2016
Nancy assists the Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion at Earthjustice operationalize the successful execution of organization-wide diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals. As part of Earthjustice’s Brown Bag Presentation series she provided training to clerks and interns on the history of race and gender in the environmental movement. Nancy attends Northeastern University for graduate school where she concentrates on race and ethnic relations and environmental sociology.
Foundation Sponsor:
11th Hour Project (Schmidt Family Foundation)
Host Organization:
Earthjustice