Food and Climate
Annalicia Anaya
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Annalicia analyzed the food security discourse of smallholder coffee farmers, using Atlas.ti to code the ways smallholder coffee farmers characterize their livelihoods. She analyzed the ways newspapers are framing the livelihoods of smallholders and designed a qualitative analysis to understand how gender impacts farmers experiences. She also helped clean and cross-check data quality from surveys on farm diversification in Nicaragua. Her work was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-1539795) and the Agropolis Foundation. In 2019, she was an immigration intern at the International Rescue Committee, and was a leader in the Multicultural Center throughout her time at SCU.
Gabriella Ballardo
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Gabi joined the research team focused on analyzing how farm diversification relates to food security, gender equity and climate resilience in Nicaragua. She edits research papers and uses R to conduct quantitative analysis of survey data to unpack the relationship between gender and diversification methods of smallholder farmers. She is currently co-authoring an article about this work, which is supported by the Agropolis Foundation.
Lauren Cloward
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Lauren researched relevant food and water security literature, designed survey questions to measure food and water security among rural smallholders, and crafted maps of the study region using GIS. Along with Claire and Kimy, she traveled to Nicaragua in the summer of 2016, where she collaborated with local stakeholders, conducted focus groups, and collected field measurements. Her work was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-1539795) Lauren was a finalist for the Rhodes scholarship and was awarded a Fulbright in 2018 to conduct food and water security research in Burkina Faso.
Griffin Garner
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: He joined Chris Bacon’s research team in Winter 2019. He developed a database and an analysis that tracked international development funding to Nicaragua. He produced a poster and traveled with Bacon and other students to present it at the American Association of Geographers annual meeting in Washington, DC. His work on this study is also supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-1539795). He recently won a Fulbright to conduct further research in Uganda, where he will draw on his experience as an RA to work with smallholder coffee farmers in Nicaragua.
Chloe Gentile-Montgomery
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project:Chloe is co-designing and conducting a study assessing covid-19 food insecurity and food justice related experiences of Santa Clara University students. She helped to develop the overall study protocol, program the survey into Qualtrics, and develop interview and focus group questions. The team is currently recruiting participants into the study, and planning focus groups to elicit students' creative responses. Conducted in collaboration with the Bronco Food Pantry and the Multicultural Center, this study is also supported by a CAS’s REAL Fellowship and the Center for Food Innovations and Entrepreneurship.
Benjamin Grundy
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Ben is a Research and Programs Student Assistant at the Center for Food, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Through his experiences volunteering at local food banks and learning about food systems in classes, Ben has a strong desire to expand his knowledge of food production, food sovereignty, and sustainable agriculture. Ben believes that food security is an essential component of maintaining not only strong physical health, but also strong mental and emotional health. He is currently part of the team conducting a campus-wide participatory assessment of student food insecurity and food justice possibilities under COVID-19 at Santa Clara University.
Julia Jenak
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Julia is a Research and Programs Student Assistant at the Center for Food, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and has also worked as an Apprentice at The Forge Garden and at Spade & Plow, another small-scale, organic farm in the area. Within these experiences/ Through these experiences, Julia saw both challenges and the potential power of small-scale, sustainable agriculture as a tool to address food accessibility and food waste. She is currently part of the team conducting a campus-wide participatory assessment of student food insecurity and food justice possibilities under COVID-19 at Santa Clara University.
Skyler Kriese
Supervisor: Christopher Bacon
Project: Skyler joined the research team in winter 2019. She analyzes the food security discourse of Nicaraguan smallholder coffee farmers using Atlas.ti and conducts quantitative analysis of farm resilience survey data using R. In 2019, she became a Global Social Benefit Fellow (GSBF) at the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship to conduct action research for eight weeks in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. She is currently co-authoring an article with Bacon and other students analyzing farm diversification in Nicaragua.
Erica Martinez
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Erica joined the research team in winter of 2019. She was a first-generation college student who graduated in 2020. Her work analyzes the food security discourse of smallholder coffee farmers in Nicaragua. She uses Atlas.ti to code the ways smallholder coffee farmers are characterizing their livelihoods and examines discrepancies between the way international news articles portray smallholder livelihoods. She traveled with Bacon and others to present a poster on this topic at the American Association of Geographers Annual Meetings in Washington DC. Erica is currently conducting a gendered analysis of a smallholder farmer training program as part of her work co-authoring an article in preparation for peer review.
Emma McCurry
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Emma worked alongside the Center for Sustainability and the Real Food Challenge to conduct an analysis and develop recommendations for improving SCU’s food. This was one of the first assessments to combine the ethical and sustainability goals of Real Food with an assessment of food-related climate emissions and the team won recognition from s As Jean Donovan Fellow, Emma served as an intern at La Mesa Verde, Sacred Heart Community Services’ non-profit organization dedicated to increasing food access and food justice in San José, CA. In addition to co-authoring an article with Bacon and Paige about campus food systems, Emma is analyzing interviews on farm diversification in Nicaragua.
Martín Pérez
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: He helped analyze farmer survey data as well as transcribed and translated focus group recordings and interviews from Nicaraguan community members collected by the research team. Perez is a first-generation college student and a LEAD scholar. Some of his work was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-1539795). He also helped Bacon and Stewart-Frey conduct community-based research on air pollution, and to record a Bannan Institute podcasts on food justice and water security. He is currently enrolled in a Master’s of Public Health program at UCLA.
Anand Purohit
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Worked as a research assistant on the Nicaragua project for several years. He wrote an honors thesis and presented a poster entitled Framing Food Security in Nicaragua at the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting in New Orleans. He also learned how to use Atlas.ti and then used it to complete an honors thesis as he analyzed a sample from 500 newspaper articles on this topic. His work was also supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-1539795). He is currently in his third year at UC Berkeley Law.
Nate Redinbo
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Nate was part of the senior capstone team that partnered with the City of Santa Clara’s Parks and Recreation Department and conducted a mixed-methods study entitled “Prioritizing Investments to Enhance Park Access and Environmental Justice Within the City of Santa Clara.”. This team conducted policy analysis, produced interactive maps, and developed a memo, poster, and set of final recommendations that will allow the City to apply for statewide funding to expand and improve park access in underserved areas.
Olivia Rodriguez
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: As a senior, Olivia was part of the capstone team that partnered with the City of Santa Clara’s Parks and Recreation Department and conducted a mixed-methods study entitled “Prioritizing Investments to Enhance Park Access and Environmental Justice Within the City of Santa Clara.”. This team conducted policy analysis, produced interactive maps, and developed a memo, poster, and set of final recommendations that will allow the City to apply for statewide funding to expand and improve park access in underserved areas.
Vanessa Shin
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Vanessa participated in an immersion trip to Nicaragua in December 2015 which sparked her interest in environmental justice. She conducted a quantitative analysis of survey data with R, researched farmers’ diversification strategies, food security and coping mechanisms. Vanessa also mapped farmers’ diversification strategies with GIS, and prepared maps for dissemination with farmers. She produced a poster and traveled with Bacon to present it at the American Association of Geographers annual meeting in Washington, DC, helped produce several events on campus, and co-designed our logo. She is now working with Bacon and other students to write a peer-reviewed journal article.After graduating Vanessa served as an AmeriCorps Fellow with the City of Cupertino's Sustainability Division and was invited to participate in the NASA DEVELOP Fellowship (declined). As a member of the Silicon Valley Clean Energy team, Vanessa currently supports program development and outreach around clean energy and community resilience.
Claire Smoker
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project:Claire worked for 1.5 years and several projects related to assessing household food and water security in Nicaragua. She helped edit survey questions and use GIS to produce maps. In addition, Chris mentored her field research in Nicaragua during the summers of 2016 and 2017, where she helped implement household livelihood surveys, and conduct field measurements. Claire’s maps and other contributions are acknowledged in several publications. Since graduation she has worked for several sustainable food enterprises and a coffee roasting cooperative. She is currently pursuing a MBA with a focus on food systems.
Kimy Grandi Soriano
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: She joined the team in spring 2016. She designed surveys, translated documents and transcribed focus groups. She also edited papers for publication. She was the original creator and translator of this Water & Food Security Blog. She also helped organize several events celebrating environmental and immigrant justice at SCU. During the summer of 2016, she traveled to Nicaragua where she gathered and recorded information from field measurements, focus groups, and meetings/workshops with our partner organization ASDENIC. Her work was also supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-1539795). She now works as a Housing Initiative Coordinator in Mountain View.
Déjà Thomas
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Déjà helped work on the project assessing food and water security in northern Nicaragua. Her primary focus was to help develop strategies to disseminate results clearly in an accessible language to all participants in this project. She designed the farmer handout summarizing recent findings from the 2014 household survey and over 500 copies of this handout were distributed to farmers during a follow-up household survey campaign. Her work was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-1539795). Déjà won the Udall Undergraduate Scholarship for environmental policy, and later a Switzer Fellowship for environmental leadership. She recently completed a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning and Food Studies Certificate, at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Paige Whittaker
Supervisors: Christopher Bacon
Project: Paige Whittaker is an Integrative Biology major. She joined Bacon’s Food Justice research team in 2019, and worked alongside the Center for Sustainability and the Real Food Challenge to conduct an analysis and develop recommendations for improving SCU’s food purchasing practices. She is co-authoring an article drawing on the Real Food Challenge analysis, and using QGIS to map the regional food system and helping design a study of Bay Area food justice organizations’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Water and Climate
Meghan Adams
Supervisors: Iris Stewart-Frey
Project: Meghan has been working with Iris Stewart-Frey and community partners from the Tuolumne River Trust on a project focused on improving underserved communities in the Central Valley. She has mapping and analyzing environmental justice (EJ) issues in Modesto with the goal of incorporating EJ in revisions of the general plan. Meghan has analyzed demographics, housing access, and the presence of industries in relation to Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities (DUC). This work has been presented at multiple community advocacy workshops and is supported by an EPA Environmental Justice grant.
Andrew Bake
Supervisors: Iris Stewart-Frey
Project: Andrew was part of two projects that supported communities in Nicaragua and Modesto (Central Valley) with improving access to safe water sources. For the Nicaragua project, he analyzed the results of a survey of water committees and of community-monitoring. For the Central Valley project, he mapped and analyzed data on well contamination. All analysis was done with the R statistical software. Andrew won a prestigious NASA Develop fellowship and is currently a fellow with Civic Spark working on water-related projects.
Genevieve Clow
Supervisors: Iris Stewart-Frey
Project: Genevieve worked on a project that analyzed the disparate exposure of school children in Santa Clara County to roadway emissions that have been associated with a host of adverse health outcomes such as lung disease and asthma. Genevieve conducted spatial and statistical analysis for a new method to assess traffic data, and she compared those to results from other environmental impact models. The results of this project have been published in a recent paper (Stewart IT, Clow G, Graham A, and Bacon C, 2020). Genevieve won a prestigious NASA Develop fellowship, and since graduation has received an ESRI internship, and worked for an ocean analytics startup. She is starting graduate studies in remote sensing at the University of Colorado at Boulder/NCAR.
Chloe Gentile-Montgomery
Supervisors: Iris Stewart-Frey
Project: Chloe has been working with Iris Stewart-Frey and community partners from the Tuolumne River Trust on mapping and analyzing environmental justice (EJ) issues in Modesto (Central Valley) with the goal of incorporating EJ in revisions of the general plan. Chloe has analyzed the distribution and quality of parks, bike access, and safe bike routes in relationship to Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities (DUC). This work has been presented at multiple community advocacy workshops, and is supported by an EPA Environmental Justice grant.
Tay Holiday
Supervisors: Iris Stewart-Frey
Project: Tay supported a project of improving access to safe water for farming communities in Northern Nicaragua. He digitized and analyzed information on small water systems using GIS and displayed incredible patience in sorting out often conflicting information from hand-drawn maps on community resources. In addition, he analyzed data from water monitoring. These digital resources will support community work on making water resources sustainable under climate change for years to come. Tay is now pursuing graduate studies in water resource management at Duke University.
Jackie Rogers
Supervisors: Iris Stewart-Frey
Project:Jackie worked on two projects that analyzed the disparate impact of drought on different communities in the Tuolumne River watershed to support advocacy for more equality and environmental protection. Results from her spatial and statistical analysis were included in a peer-reviewed publication (Stewart IT, Rogers J, Graham A. “Water security under severe drought and climate change: Disparate impacts of the recent severe drought on environmental flows and water supplies in Central California”. Journal of Hydrology X. 2020 Mar 29:100054). Jackie won a Clare Boothe Luce fellowship for women in STEM fields to support this work. A second project, supported by a Hackworth fellowship, examined the ethical implications on water management under drought. Jackie and Iris interviewed a number of water managers, conducted a Bay-Area wide survey, analyzed drought data and co-presented this work in a public seminar and discussion at SCU in June 2020. Jackie is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in water resource engineering at the University of Washington.
Claire Smoker
Supervisors: Iris Stewart-Frey
Project: Claire helped on a project assessing water resources and water security for communities in northern Nicaragua. Claire helped digitize GIS maps of community water sources and community boundaries. She has produced maps for publications, and co-presented a poster at the American Association of Geographers on community-based water monitoring (Stewart IT, Bacon CM, Smoker C, 2017). With professor Stewart-Frey she supported community water monitoring and surveys of water committees in Nicaragua.
Community-Driven Research Methodology
Javier Espinola
Supervisor: Chad Raphael
Project: Javier helped review literature, and researched and wrote case studies, for a book on community-driven research for environmental justice. His case study focused on researcher-community partnerships to plan for a just transition to a clean energy economy in New York State.
Skyler Kriese
Supervisor: Chad Raphael
Project: Skyler helped review the literature, and researched and wrote case studies, for a book on community-driven research for environmental justice. Her case studies focused on how EJ groups and researchers collaborated to address workplace health and safety for Florida farmworkers, climate resilience and equity in California, and sustainable development in rural India.
Daniel Mendoza
Supervisor: Chad Raphael
Project: Daniel researched community groups, and faculty at Jesuit and California institutions, who work on environmental justice to help build the Initiative’s networks for community-driven research. He also conducted interviews with student researchers on projects led by faculty members affiliated with the Initiative, produced a video on their experience, and contributed research to inform our social media strategy.