Maya Parra is an intern at the UCLA Extension magazine where she helps write and copyedit the content that will be published on the website and magazine. She is also a copyeditor and staff writer at the Daily Bruin.

Sid has spent the past seven years in legislative and regulatory development roles, with a focus on renewable energy, community solar, and ensuring equitable access to distributed energy resources. In his most recent role, he has been actively involved in developing and implementing community solar legislation across the U.S., working closely with trade, regulatory, and advocacy organizations to make solar energy accessible to low-income and disadvantaged communities. Before this, Sid gained experience in project financing and development, where he led market analysis and regulatory engagement efforts, overseeing a large portfolio in emerging distributed generation markets.

Earlier in his career, Sid contributed to NYC Mayor DeBlasio’s administration as a key member of the team responsible for implementing NYC’s Green New Deal. He played an instrumental role in designing emissions reduction strategies for municipal buildings and led renewable energy procurement transactions to help achieve the city’s and state’s carbon neutrality goals. Sid holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Science from UCLA and a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University. 

He is now focused on researching the barriers to large-scale adoption of distributed energy resources, exploring how these challenges intersect with socioeconomic and environmental justice issues, which are essential to achieving a fair and sustainable clean energy transition.

Jennifer is a recent graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She studied Environmental Management & Protection and minored in Biology with a strong focus on Wildlife Conservation and in Land Rehabilitation & Restoration Ecology. She is someone who has always been interested in the way our natural world works and operates and loves to explore the interactions between species and their ever-changing environments.

Jennifer is a first-generation, low-income, and queer Chinese-American scientist from Monterey Park, California. She is constantly exploring aspects of her identity and the way that she exists within academia and our big, wide, miraculous world. Jennifer believes that there is a space for people of all backgrounds to learn and grow in whichever field they wish to pursue. Due to this belief, she is always striving to create safe spaces for others in herself and in the programs she’s a part of. Projects she’s worked on in the past includes research in avian biodiversity, soil carbon levels & plant diversity, and environmental justice issues.

Recently, she completed a field season in Western North Carolina working as a Crew Leader for a Bear Management Boundary Marking Crew. There, she worked with the Wildlife Resources Commission and witnessed the beauty of a Southern spring.  She is looking to apply to graduate school as a PhD student in Ecology and hopes to conduct research in marine ecosystems. During her free time, Jennifer likes to go camping, create art, swim, write poems, and keep a detailed journal (currently on Volume 18!). She is beyond excited to join the CDLS community as a new Fellow and hopes to collaborate with others on some passion projects!

Wilson is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Ph.D. Student at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. He is interested in the sociocultural factors which shape human-wildlife interaction in shared landscapes and the ecological repercussions of these interactions.

Prior to joining IoES, Wilson worked with a range of wildlife conservation organizations in the United States, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Namibia. Most recently, Wilson conducted social science and animal welfare research as a program manager for the Conservation Society of California, Oakland Zoo. He holds a B.S. in Conservation & Resource Studies and a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Juliana Tampus is an ESE student interested in utilizing her technical experience gained by working at The Boeing Company for the past two years. She would like to support companies in following upcoming sustainability policy to drive the overall movement for a cleaner planet. In working for Boeing, it became apparent that every company, specifically manufacturing companies, are significantly impacting the total global emissions. It is not only important to follow sustainable policy, we must instill company leaders that believe in the policy.

Her education background includes a BS in Engineering Physics from Vanguard University and her recent completion of a Master of Engineering in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, with an emphasis on Energy Systems, from UC Irvine. During her Masters program she had the privilege to complete a six month research project on identifying energy losses within a Hydrogen fuel station, owned and operated by True Zero, an industry leader in Hydrogen fuel stations in the US. She is prepared to dive into a program based on supporting the development of environmental sciences.

She admires UCLA’s ESE programs because of the commitment to bettering the surrounding community and the greater Los Angeles. Juliana’s interest in supporting sustainability rooted in her being born and raised on Kaua’i, HI. The island environment is so sensitive to changing climate which is constantly eroding roads and beaches. It is of utmost importance to find solutions that will affect island communities such as hers. Secondarily, she is a lover of the outdoors. Being a rock climber, there is so many safety concerns regarding integrity of rock formations that are being put at risk due to changing climate. She would like to allow future generations to experience the natural beauty this world has to offer, limiting harsh environmental exposure will support this.

Brian and Eric, cofounders of Aquaria, are on a mission to build a sustainable and secure water future by harvesting air. As CEO and COO, they are pioneering the development of water infrastructure that serves entire communities using only sunlight and air. Aquaria’s atmospheric water technology is the first that is capable of producing at community scale.

Before founding Aquaria, Brian launched a pre-seed venture capital firm at the age of 19, focusing on investing in mission-driven companies that are shaping a better future. His track record includes helping to build two companies from pre-seed to IPO and supporting seven other companies that are nearing unicorn status.

Eric, prior to joining Aquaria, was the founder of Beam Robotics, a venture-backed robotics company backed by Starta and Chaac Ventures. Eric was also previously a Junior Olympics silver medalist athlete at the hammer throw.

Brian did his thesis research at Princeton on atmospheric water technology and distributed energy infrastructure, and Eric is a graduated of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In recognition of their work, Brian and Eric were selected for the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in energy. Aquaria is backed by top investors including Softbank Mistletoe, Bow Capital, Soma Capital, Former house majority leader and presidential candidate Dick Gephardt, Ciri Ventures, HF0 and more.

Visionary marine conservation biologist Callie Veelenturf goes where many scientists are not willing to go: the intersection of field science and national and international policy. Callie inspires and influences high-impact conservation measures using collaborative scientific research initiatives, with a special focus on connecting indigenous and marginalized communities with government agencies to propose and achieve paramount environmental protections and advancements in the global recognition of the intrinsic Rights of Nature. Callie founded and leads the non-profit research and conservation organization, The Leatherback Project, where she works for the conservation of leatherbacks and other threatened marine species and their habitat. Through The Leatherback Project she has trained thousands of Panamanian Army and Navy soldiers in the recognition of illegal sea turtle products; identified new to science sea turtle nesting and foraging sites; and spearheaded groundbreaking conservation proposals and laws in Panama including a new National Wildlife Refuge; Law 287 recognizing the Rights of Nature; and Article 29 of Law 371 that recognizes sea turtles as legal entities with specific rights. Callie aspires to lead and empower other public citizens, scientists, storytellers and educators to use their voices to advocate for the intrinsic Rights of Nature through a new initiative called For Nature. She is a 2024 Future For Nature Awardee, The Explorers Club New Explorer of the Year, and a Visionary Award recipient from the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Since 2023, her work has been featured on the front page of the Washington Post, on CBS News, and Smithsonian Magazine.

Boyan Slat is a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur, passionate about creating megaprojects to address planetary problems. He is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup; a non-profit organization developing and scaling technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic.

At 16 years of age, Boyan Slat saw more plastic bags than fish when scuba diving in Greece. He thought: “Why can’t we just clean this up?” This question led him to research the plastic pollution problem for a school project. In 2012, Boyan Slat held a TEDx talk about how to rid the world’s oceans of plastic using technology. The video went viral, and the momentum that followed allowed him to drop out of school and start The Ocean Cleanup in 2013.

The organization aims to put itself out of business, with the goal of removing 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040. They plan to do this by cleaning up the legacy plastic – the plastic already floating in the ocean – and by stopping the sources of plastic flowing into our oceans.