Contact
To take part in or contribute to this project, email Jenny Reardon (reardon1@ucsc.edu) and/or Colleen Stone (colleen@ucsc.edu).
Consulted Faculty
James Doucet-Battle (Sociology)
Camilla Hawthorne (Sociology)
Jaimie Morse (Sociology)
Jenny Reardon (Sociology)
Matt Sparke (Politics, Global and Community Health)
Independent Researchers & Alumni
Isa Ansari is a recent graduate from the sociology department at UCSC. She was born and raised in the East Bay, where she currently lives and organizes. Isa loves skateboarding, reading, and writing poems.
Jeff Jonathan Aquino is a Merrill affiliate and a 4th year Film and Digital Media undergraduate. A first generation immigrant, he is also an active member of the student media organizations, FPC and OTS. He plans on using his content creation skills to tell stories that may otherwise be overlooked. His other interests lie in writing, gaming, and being outdoors.
Andy Murray is a recent graduate of UC Santa Cruz, with a PhD in Sociology and a designated emphasis in Anthropology. Andy specializes in the qualitative study of biological and biomedical science and technology and has multiple publications in peer-reviewed formats with a focus on moral and ethical dimensions of emerging biotechnologies.
Aitanna Parker, a Kresge affiliate, is a recent graduate of UC Santa Cruz, with a BA in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and a BS in Technology and Information Management. She plans to use her technical abilities for social good. Aitanna is currently working with the Science & Justice Research Center, looking at datasets to understand how Covid is negatively impacting racialized populations in the United States. She wants to continue this work in graduate school.
Graduate Student Researchers
Dennis Browe, an SJRC Fellow, is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology at UC Santa Cruz. Dennis’ work lies at the intersections of medical sociology, science & technology studies (STS), public health, sexuality and gender studies, and feminist theory.
Paloma Medina, an SJRC Fellow, is a scientist and artist based in Santa Cruz, CA. Paloma holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Scripps College and is currently a Ph.D. student in Biomolecular Engineering at UC Santa Cruz.
Dorothy R. Santos, an SJRC Fellow, is a PhD student in the Department of Film & Digital Media at UC Santa Cruz. Dorothy is a Filipina American writer, artist, and educator whose academic and research interests include feminist media histories, critical medical anthropology, technology, race, and ethics.
Lucia Vitale (Politics)
Undergraduate Student Researchers
Norhan Abolail, a Kresge affiliate, is a Psychology undergraduate minoring in Legal Studies. She is passionate about advocating for prisoners’ rights, abolishing the prison industrial complex, and eliminating unpaid labor in prisons.
Andrea Asher*, a College Nine affiliate is a 2nd year Sociology and Human Biology undergraduate.
Gina Barba is a Community Studies student at UCSC.
Sandy Chung, a College Ten affiliate is a Sociology/GISES undergraduate minoring in Economics. She plans to use her skills in technology to analyze the transformation of society and create a change for social good. She is currently a RA for College Nine (resides in Santa Cruz), but originally from the East Bay.
Samuel Cuevas, a Crown College affiliate, is a Biomolecular biology undergraduate. He lives in San Jose and has interests in microbiology, olympic lifts, and playing the Bass.
Kathia Damian a College Ten affiliate, is a fourth-year literature student and News Director at KZSC Santa Cruz 88.1 FM. She loves a good film, noisy rock and green tea ice cream.
Ryleigh Hales is a Merrill affiliate and a 4th year biochemistry & molecular biology undergraduate. She is also a student program coordinator at the African American Resource & Cultural Center and hopes to utilize her research to combat race disparities in the medical field.
Aisha Lakshman, a Kresge affiliate, is a third year Sociology undergraduate. Aisha is also pursuing a minor in statistics. She plans on using these two disciplines to interpret datasets to demonstrate social problems and catalyze social change.
Maryam Nazir is a third-year undergraduate majoring in Philosophy. She is interested in taking advantage of philosophical principles and frameworks to help understand, research, and analyze issues of BioEthics and race disparities as they are revealed through the pandemic.
Sophia Parizadeh is a College Ten affiliate, first-year undergraduate student majoring in Politics. She is interested in understanding systemic racial inequality and how it has been magnified within the pandemic. She hopes to shed light on other social justice issues and work towards forming solutions to today’s problems.
Tamar Sasson* a College Ten affiliate, is a second-year Sociology and Economics undergraduate. Tamar hopes to pursue a PhD after her undergraduate career.
Shana Salem, a Rachel Carson College affiliate, is a Feminist Studies and Cognitive Science undergraduate.
Emily Schweitzer, a Porter college affiliate, is a Politics and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies undergraduate. After graduating, Emily plans to use her combined disciplines to pursue a field in immigration law, or abolition work. She is also currently in an internship working on DEI efforts at the UCSC Norris Center.
Jessica Singh, a Rachel Carson College affiliate, is a MCDB and Legal Studies undergraduate.
Matt Sioson, a Cowell college affiliate, is a Legal Studies undergraduate. Matt is strongly interested in criminal justice reform and has been volunteering with the Walls to Bridges Book Project to help keep children connected to their incarcerated loved ones. Matt plans on attending law school after graduating from UCSC.
Neil Smith is a third-year biomolecular engineering major and a Merrill affiliate. Neil hopes to bring attention to disparities in access to science education and opportunities, and the inequities created by pharmaceutical regulations regarding rare diseases. Neil additionally researches coral reef ecology and viruses. After graduation Neil plans to continue scientific research, create informative media, and possibly attend law school.
Teresa (Tee) Wicks is a Sociology student at UCSC.
*Participation funded through the UCSC Institute for Social Transformation’s Building Belonging Program.
Project Manager
Colleen Stone (SJRC)