About Hasmik's Work

Hasmik is a PhD Student in the Environmental Science, Policy, and Management department at UC Berkeley. In her research and work, Hasmik focuses on food sovereignty and climate adaptation in Armenia and California. Her research engages recently displaced Armenians from Artsakh who now live in the Republic of Armenia. Hasmik looks at the ways backyard gardens, small-scale farms, and foraging practices can generate food sovereignty and respond to changes in climate following people’s ethnic cleansing from Artsakh. In the California context, Hasmik’s role with University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources involves doing research and outreach with urban farmers across California to advance policies that support justice-oriented urban agriculture.

With a background in Women’s and Gender Studies and Civic Engagement, Hasmik draws on transnational feminist frameworks and methodologies in her research. Prior to graduate school, Hasmik worked in the domestic and sexual violence prevention and advocacy field for several years. She was also actively involved in environmental and racial justice campaigns in Syracuse, New York, working with wide-ranging groups of people to advocate for policies to protect farmworker rights and a local bill to protect against lead poisoning.

Hasmik first lived in Armenia on a Fulbright grant after college, during which time she was involved in anti-gold mining organizing and did research on reproductive violence with the Women’s Support Center. She has also conducted mycology research in Armenia with an international group of researchers. Hasmik’s experiences as a first-generation child of immigrants shape her political commitments and hopes for community-led, liberatory futures.