Maya Revell (she/her) is a doctoral student in Environmental Studies and Critical and Sociocultural Studies in Education. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Master of Arts in Sustainability from Wake Forest University. Her past research has focused on diversity in environmental nonprofits, food justice and access, and race in environmental education. She has previously worked in environmental education and philanthropy. Her current research focuses on the connections between Black studies, Black ecologies, and transformative climate education.
Joanna Bernstein (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in Planning and Planning Affairs and worked as a Just Futures Institute Graduate Researcher. She is from Pittsburgh, PA but has been living in Oregon on and off for years. She holds a Master in City and Regional Planning from the University of Oregon that she earned a decade ago. She was trained as a journalist and a planner but identifies as a journalist first. She has worked as a planner, social services coordinator, legal advocate, research consultant, and journalist. She has been working with indigenous immigrants from Guatemala for the past 8 years in various capacities. Joanna is a qualitative researcher focusing on how white nationalism and fascist anti-government ‘patriots’ and institutions attempt to penetrate local government systems and the mixed responses of both support and combat they face. Joanna is a person in recovery and an active survivor of the drug war and the opioid overdose epidemic.
Ashia Ajani (they/them) is a Black environmental educator and storyteller at UO in the ESSP and English department. Their writing focuses on Black ecologies, food sovereignty and environmental wellness beyond carcerality and climate doom. As both a creative and academic writer, they work to preserve cultural memory through oral history and traditional storytelling. They are a Digital Humanities GE for the Just Futures Initiative.
Iliana Lang Lundgren (she/her) second-year graduate student pursuing a Master of Nonprofit Management at the University of Oregon, and a JFI Collaborative for Inclusive Urbanism Research Assistant. She is committed to supporting nonprofits and initiatives that work with vulnerable populations to ensure that all members of the community receive the resources and support they need to thrive. Her undergraduate studies included Environmental Biology and Women’s and Gender Studies at Georgetown University. Her recent professional experience includes work in international grantmaking, donor relations, and private and corporate philanthropy. Her past research was focused on equitable and accessible reproductive health services for adolescents, and is currently serving on the board of Our Community Birth Center in Lane County.
Janice Kai Chen (she/her) is a Master’s student in Geography working at the intersection of digital humanities and cartography. In JFI, she is a cartographic researcher for the Atlas of Essential Work, a digital atlas that explores the histories and futures of labor in the Pacific Northwest..
Lola Loustaunau (she/her) is a Ph.D. candidate in the UO Department of Sociology and Wayne Morse Fellow. Her research is located at the intersections of labor, migration studies, collective organizing, gender, and race. Her work has been published in Labor Studies Journal, Sociological Perspectives, and the Industrial Labor Relations Review. In her dissertation project, “The Hands That Feed Us: Analyzing the Experiences of Migrant Food Processing Workers,” she examines the working conditions, work-family conflict, and collective organizing experiences of migrant workers employed in the ‘forgotten factories’ that produce the food that fills grocery stores shelves. This research contributes to achieving a sustainable food supply chain in the United States by centering the experiences of frontline workers who are most affected by policy decisions and documenting the high price of cheap food for those who produce it.
Katherine Marple (she/her) is a Texas-born transplant to Oregon. In Texas, she received her Bachelors Degree in Architecture from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Upon moving to Oregon, she worked for 2 years at a local architecture firm before pursuing her Master of Architecture Degree with a focus in Spatial Justice at the University of Oregon, along with a Certificate in Indigenous Racial and Ethnic Studies and an accompanying study of Planning and Public Policy focused on Community Organizing. Katherine is a student researcher for inclusive cities with the Just Futures Institute.
Hannah Mellor (they/them/theirs) is the Albina Project Coordination GE with the Historic Preservation program in Portland. They are an M.S. student in Historic Preservation, pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management.
Jesse Noone is a 2nd-year graduate student in the Community & Regional Planning program. He is pursuing a specialization in climate change conflict resolution within the School of Law and serves as the current Media GE for the Center for Environmental Futures. With backgrounds in photography and winemaking, he brings an interdisciplinary approach to the field of planning.
Rose Poton (she/her) is a Graduate Student in Conflict and Dispute Resolution at UO School of Law specializing in Environmental Conflicts with an emphasis on water conflicts. A majority of her work has focused on understanding environmental issues through the community lens and is currently exploring use of digital technologies in the conflict resolution process. Her work at JFI involves supporting the PNW Healer/TEK and Oregon Water Futures (OWF) Collaborative as a Project Manager and supporting outreach with stakeholders in the university, nonprofit and government sector, tribal council, and water stewards.
