UCLA

Melisa Walk is an environmental justice advocate, researcher, and community organizer from Ventura County with deep roots in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. Her work focuses on the intersections of plastic pollution, climate justice, and community-led planning. Grounded in both policy and grassroots organizing, she is committed to building healthier, more equitable communities through public engagement, research, and movement building.

Hasibe Caballero-Gómez is an environmental health scientist and community advocate. Driven by her lived experiences and a vision of equity, she combines research with grassroots engagement to create meaningful, inclusive solutions for environmental challenges.

Jazz's studies are concentrated in sustainability and design/development. He has worked on issues such as extreme heat, air quality, community engagement and schoolyard greening.

Chelsea is driven by the belief that we cannot solve our climate crisis by exacerbating our housing crisis. Her work empowers tenants in building decarbonization efforts, ensuring they benefit from climate initiatives.

Zeltzin hopes to continue to create resilient, healthy cities by finding the connecting points between the built and natural environment through a lens of design, geospatial analysis, and participatory planning.

Water justice policy expert with experience in legislation, research, non-profit work, and advocacy in communities of color and Indigenous communities.

Edgar integrates transformative climate adaptation principles into building community capacity to address the local impacts of climate change. He connects his lived experiences and professional passions to include and prioritize frontline communities in the creation of adaptation solutions.

Marisol investigates the sources, fate, and transport of microbial contaminants in coastal watersheds in the United States and abroad, with a focus on providing more equitable methodologies for monitoring coastal waters.

Dr. Tanner Waters (he/him) is a marine biologist and science policy advisor dedicated to advancing California’s ocean and coastal conservation through evidence-based decision making.