About Me
I am originally from Nayarit, Mexico, but I grew up on Gabrielino, Kizh, Tongva, and Tataviam Lands in what is now known as East Los Angeles, California. I come from a family of traditional farmers, transnational farmers, and medicinal knowledge keepers. I earned my Bachelor’s of Science in the Environmental Sciences with a minor in Conservation Biology from the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA in 2020.
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Background
I come from a family of Indigenous farmers and medicine Peoples. Despite growing up in inner-city East Los Angeles, I maintained my connections with traditional farming and relationships to land. I now help inner-city, Indigenous students understand their relationships to land in an urban environment. I am currently a co-teacher at Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory of North America, the only Indigenous school in Los Angeles. I help teach Indigenous environmental science and helped develop curriculum for the first of its kind, Science is Ceremony: Indigenous Youth Research Academy.
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Education
University of California, Los Angeles September 2022 - Currently
M.S. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California, Los Angeles September 2016 - August 2020 B.S. Environmental Science, Minor Conservation Biology |
Research
I am interested in the integration of Indigenous ecological knowledge systems and western understandings of plant community ecology. My research aims to address the effects of climate change on urban terrestrial ecosystems using remote sensing and traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge.
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