Sylvia Zhang is a second year undergraduate Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution major. As one of the co-directors of conservation for the UCLA Bruin Birding Club, Sylvia is leading efforts to expand the “Hummingbird Canyon” native habitat garden (located between Franz Hall and the Geology building). After serving as a Summer Naturalist Intern with Grassroots Ecology in Palo Alto during Summer 2023, Sylvia earned a California Naturalist certification. A regular at Sage Hill volunteer events, Sylvia has played a big part in removing vetch, pampas grass, mustard, Russian thistle, and castor bean from the site.

Research Interests

Hydrologic remote sensing; Uncertainty analysis; Water resource management and governance; International water resource development.

Education

• Ph.D., (2004), University of Iowa
• M.S., (1999), Twente University, the Netherlands
• B.Sc., (1992), Haromaya University, Ethiopia

Awards and Recognitions

• 2010: AGU Hydrological Sciences Early Career Award
• 2010-12: UConn Al-Geib Professorship
• 2009: IBM Faculty Award
• 2008-11: NASA New Investigator Award
• 2009-Present: Membership in NASA Precipitation Science Team
• 2007-2012: Membership in AGU Precipitation Committee
• 2012: Membership in IAHS Task Force to formulate a new scientific decade initiative
• 2008-Present: Membership in WMO International Precipitation Working Group
• 2008-Present: Membership in IAHS Statistical Hydrology Working Group

Ariella Gaughan, Chickasaw Nation, hails from a small town in Northern CA. There, she obtained a paralegal certificate and worked at local law firms, whilst studying for her undergraduate degree. After transferring to UCLA in 2021, Ariella became involved in a multitude of environmental and indigenous projects, often intertwined. By the time she graduated from UCLA in 2023, she had earned a B.A. in Political Science, was a URSP UCLA Grand Challenge: Sustainability Research Scholar 2022-2023 and served as the Director of Sustainability for various USAC offices in 2023-2024.

Her continued research maintains a primary focus on the Los Angeles natural environment and its indigenous history. Her advocacy for CA natives is presented through her research of indigenous plants, people, lands, and most importantly, perspectives. She believes advocating for the environment requires empowering the Tribal communities within and beyond the colonial borders of America. She is attending UCLA once again to obtain her Master’s degree in American Indian Studies, and hopes to continue her focus on Tribal sovereignty. She is involved in the California Native American Truth & Healing Commission and is a part of the education, youth, and urban subcommittees. She has done advocacy work for tribes in various capacities including a variety of ecological and cultural terrains in CA, MT, SC, OK, & HI.  

Topics of interest for research include: wildlife conservation, tribal sovereignty, environmental justice, and sustainability policies.

Robert Fofrich is a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of the Environment & Sustainability. His research primarily focuses on global environmental change and can be broadly categorized into three main areas: first, understanding the causes of environmental change; second, quantifying their impacts on human and natural systems; and lastly, finding ways to mitigate these environmental changes. He is also committed to seeking equitable solutions that protect vulnerable populations within society and the natural world.

Fofrich earned his Ph.D. in Earth System Science in 2022 from the University of California, Irvine. His dissertation centered on the intersection of climate change, energy, and agricultural systems. While energy and food production represent the largest anthropogenic drivers of global environmental change, they are also integral to contemporary existence. Nonetheless, much of the world’s population still lacks consistent access to affordable food and energy. Thus, identifying sustainable and equitable ways to produce food and energy is essential to address worldwide environmental degradation.

As a postdoc at IoES, Fofrich seeks to understand the land-use and agricultural trade-offs associated with biogenic climate change mitigation solutions in tropical environments. Climate change is one of our generation’s most pressing environmental issues. However, many climate pathways successfully avoid 2°C by dedicating large areas of land to climate change mitigation. This is of particular concern in the tropical regions, given the potential for biodiversity and carbon storage loss in addition to the disruption of regional food systems. Additionally, due to the biophysical constraints governing plant growth, numerous biogenic climate solutions cannot thrive under specific environmental conditions, particularly in regions where they exist at the edge of their climatological niche. As a result, the viability of the tropics for biogenic energy production is expected to decline under future warming scenarios and thus warrants further investigation.

Eli is the SAR Marketing and Media Director for the year 2023-2024.

Grace is one of the SAR Program Directors for the 2023-2024 year.

Sam is one of the SAR Program Directors for the 2023-2024 school year.

Aneesa graduated Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UC Irvine with a B.A. in Environmental Science and a minor in Global Sustainability. During my undergraduate, I did research for Water UCI targeting California’s water needs through the scope of Governor Newsom’s Water Resilience Portfolio. The research led to the creation of a survey sent out amongst a broad spectrum of stakeholders, a colloquium, and a research paper that is being overlooked by California’s Water Division and the government. I then interned with the County of Orange managing stormwater and assisting with NPDES permitting and the TMDL program. After graduating, I obtained a job with the County of Orange Environmental Health Division as a Hazardous Material Specialist. In this position, I inspect and enforce environmental regulation for facilities that store hazardous materials and generate hazardous waste. My research interests involve water resilience in Southern California, sustainability in agricultural systems, and environmental justice. In my free time I enjoy surfing, maintaining my plants, reading, and spending time with my two dogs and cat.

Pa-Shun is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Institute of Environment and Sustainability. She received her B.S. from Hampton University in Marine and Environmental Science. Previously, she has conducted research in marine microbial ecology and physiology at Hampton, and coral-algal phase shifts in Moorea, French Polynesia. Her research interest are in the effects of climate-induced oceanic changes on marine microbial communities. In her freetime she enjoys reading, nature walks, and strength training.