Emma is a PhD candidate working with Dr. Boyd and Dr. Heise. She is interested in nature-society relations at the urban-wild interface, and her dissertation work is specifically focused on wildfire planning and response in California. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Romance Languages with a minor in Anthropology from Colorado College, and has experience working with tech startups, nonprofits, and entertainment agencies. She hopes to use her current research and previous experience to bring together the diverse perspectives necessary to facilitate solutions to pressing environmental issues.

Russell Horowitz is a first-year PhD student interested in applying modeling and data analysis to sustainable resource use and decarbonization. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from the University of Virginia. Prior to UCLA, Russell was employed at the Joint Global Change Research Institute, where he worked with an integrated assessment model to study deep decarbonization scenarios and the relationship between building energy use and the climate.

Jessica Heckman is a fourth-year doctoral student in environment and sustainability at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability interested in coastal resilience and management. Broadly, she is interested in the interaction between stakeholders at the coast and how those interactions guide policy decisions. Jessica’s research looks at the interactions and effects on decision-making that occurred regarding coastal sand dunes and dune building at the New Jersey Shore after Hurricane Sandy and how those decisions can be made more equitably. Jessica graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science with a focus in geology and hopes to apply her background in marine science together with her research on the social dimensions of coastal resilience to learn how to effectively plan for changing coastlines and the increased coastal threats that come with a changing climate. 

Chase is a PhD alum at the Institute for Environment and Sustainability where his research interests lie at the intersection of urban ecology, multispecies anthropology and the moving image. Currently he is exploring human-coyote relations in Los Angeles.

Noam Rosenthal is PhD alum interested in the intersection of land use and climate-risk. He specifically focuses on the compounding impacts of wildfire smoke and heat in cities, using remote sensing and machine learning. He holds a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering and M.S. in Earth Systems from Stanford University. Prior to matriculating at UCLA, Noam worked for the Google venture Premise Data, an international data-sourcing company. Most recently he worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council on a study to catalyze private investment in adaptation infrastructure. In his spare time he enjoys singing, hiking and flâneuring city streets.

Edith B. de Guzman is a true Bruin who returned to UCLA for her Ph.D. after earning a master’s in Urban Planning and a bachelor’s in History/Art History. Edith investigates best practices for the sustainable transformation of the Los Angeles region and has led or been a core team member on groundbreaking research, demonstration projects, and public planning on such efforts as the Greening Plan for Inglewood and Lennox; City of Los Angeles Stormwater Capture Master Plan; an extensive study tour of Australian capital cities focused on their historic Millennium Drought and lessons for California; and a behavior change study identifying community-specific benefits and barriers to fostering tree stewardship among urban residents. She co-founded and directs the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative, a multi-disciplinary, national partnership of universities, nonprofit organizations, community groups, and government agencies focused on designing data-driven, inclusive strategies for cooling neighborhoods using trees and highly reflective surfaces. She recently finished a stint as Director of Research at Los Angeles-based nonprofit TreePeople. When not working or studying, she can be found hiking, playing guitar, or making art. Learn more at edithdeguzman.com and dearantler.com.

Oscar Neyra-Nazarrett (He/Him) is an ESE alum. He worked as an NSF trainee, and was the first member of his family to attend Graduate School. He worked as a research resident for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In his research, he explores the potential of combining data from multiple satellites to observe attributes of the environment that were unobservable with one satellite alone.

At JPL, Oscar worked under the mentorship of the Engineering and Science Directorate Principal Dr. Kevin Bowman and of the Scientist Dr. Kazuyuki Miyazaki. He was trained on techniques to perform chemical analysis based on Multi-Constituent Satellite Measurements, having a particular emphasis on the analysis of high impact combustion events.

At UCLA, Oscar was advised by Dr. Pablo Saide, who has provided substantial training in Remote Sensing and its applications in the analysis of the environment. With Saide, he has worked on applying multi-satellite observations to the analysis of combustion events in NASA’s FIREX-AQ campaign. In particular, they combined  data from the Suomi-NPP, and the AQUA and TERRA satellites. Oscar also received substantial training from Dr. Miriam Marlier, gaining expertise in the use of Geos-Chem, a modeling architecture product of a collaboration with Harvard and NASA.

Oscar previously worked at the DHS Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), and interned in the Nuclear Security Division of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), in Washinton DC, where he started his career. Oscar is a Sustainable Development Engineer by training, from the Monterrey Technological Institute in Mexico. He has also pursued Master Degrees at USC, and Johns Hopkins focusing on National and Global Security respectively, but decided to focus on pure science after pursuing these degrees.

Before coming to Los Angeles, he founded the multi-awarded environmentalist group Generacion Respuesta, an organization with more than 5,000 members, created to empower youth to face climate change. Oscar believes that creativity, and economically feasible innovation are the best tools to face climate change. When not at UCLA, you can find him running at the beach, hiking at California’s parks, or attending networking events. He speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

I am a two-time UCLA graduate. First, I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Biology with a minor in Environmental Engineering. My minor studies further fueled my desire to learn about water and wastewater treatment. This lead me to the decision of obtaining a Master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. The summer prior to beginning my graduate studies, I worked in Dr. Mel Suffet’s research lab. This opportunity allowed me to gain experience in the area of odor treatment. At the time, Dr. Suffet was working with both a private and public institution so I was given first-hand experience on research that would positively affect many people. After completing my graduate degree, I took a year off and joined the working force. I became an intern with a construction company which was in charge of building a wastewater treatment plant from the bottom up. This was an incredible experience, because once more, I was in a position in which I was helping make decisions regarding the more efficient way to build this facility.

It was during this time that I realized yet another problem that affects the environment, which is unrecycled excess material. Recycling and the life-cycle of products are topics that I am not very well versed in, but it is a topic of vast possibilities. For this reason, I decided to become a part of the Environmental Science and Engineering Professional program. This program is unique because it will allow me to learn more about the areas of recycle and reuse in both the classroom and in the real world.

Nicki Aviel joined IoES in September 2018 as communications and outreach coordinator. She assists the director of communications, David Colgan, in bringing environmental issues to a broader audience through effective and creative communication. 

Nicki graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Anthropology. While in school, she conducted legal research for the University of Pittsburgh Environmental Law Clinic, interned with the Sierra Club, served as leader of a food justice club and founded a mentorship program to engage third graders with art.   

In her free time, you can find Nicki traveling, reading or doing art.