Katherine Baker
(she/they)
Katherine Baker is a public health researcher interested in the intersections of nutrition and climate change. She currently focuses on finding successful solutions to encourage sustainable and equitable food systems.
David Bañuelas
(he/him)
As a Sustainability Fellow at USC, David will incorporate metagenomic data to enhance models predicting sea level rise impacts in Southern California. To accomplish his research goals at USC, he will use an interdisciplinary approach combining biology and engineering.
Matthew Coopilton
(they/them)
Matthew Coopilton (formerly Hamilton) studies and designs critical climate change educational activities featuring play, game design, digital literacies, and worldbuilding; their goal is to support learners in imagining, prototyping, and rehearsing sustainable futures free from systemic oppression.
Zhongzheng “Jason” Niu
(he/him)
As an epidemiologist, Zhongzheng “Jason” Niu uses a life course framework to study the cardiometabolic health risk and biological aging process in association with environmental exposures such as air pollution and heatwave.
Anna Vinton
(she/her)
Anna Vinton’s research broadly focuses on developing mathematical theory to investigate how natural populations can avoid extinction due to environmental change. As a Sustainability Fellow, she will develop and use cutting edge quantitative tools to understand how coral reef species can adapt and survive environmental change across varied environments.
Affiliated Fellows
Aitor Marcos Diaz
(he/him)
Aitor is a behavioral-ecological economist investigating demand-side solutions for climate change mitigation. His research interests lie in how citizens, both as economic agents and political subjects, interact with climate solutions.
Connie Valencia
(she/her)
Connie is a first-generation Latina, daughter of Mexican Immigrants, wife and mother of two, born and raised in Boyle Heights. Connie recently defended her dissertation, a mixed methods study assessing the role civic engagement might have on protecting Latino communities against exposure to poor air pollution.