The Institute for Social Transformation’s Building Belonging program is designed to foster student success, increase engagement, and build a greater sense of belonging for under-represented undergraduate students through faculty mentored service-learning and research projects. Click here to learn more about the Building Belonging program.
Watch the 2023 student presentations and read these testimonials from Building Belonging Fellows.
Project: Venom Lab: Inter-American Archival Research Training
FACULTY MENTOR: Lily Balloffet
Sofia Trigueros Ufford
Agroecology / Latin American and Latino Studies
Fernanda Ruiz-Riedel
Politics and Latin American Studies with an Intensive Language FocusMarissa Guzman
Latin American and Latino Studies / Feminist StudiesMiguel Narez Vazquez
Latin American and Latino Studies / SociologyProject: Saclo Village Archaeology
FACULTY MENTOR: J. Cameron Monroe
Elyse Venerable
AnthropologyEva Middleton
AnthropologyProject: Economic benefits of birdwatching tourism in Colombia
FACULTY MENTOR: Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela
Olivia Fragiacomo
Environmental StudiesPROJECT: Impacts of Wildfire on Crop Productivity
FACULTY MENTOR: Elliott Campbell
Damiana Rojas
Environmental StudiesProject: Farmland Investment in the Mississippi Delta
FACULTY MENTOR: Madeleine Fairbairn
Kiaya Moser
Environmental Studies /Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
Daniel Thurmond
AgroecologyPROJECT: Global Environmental Justice Observatory
FACULTY MENTOR: Ravi Rajan
Jade Guzman
Environmental Studies
Maya Lucia Mendoza
Environmental StudiesPROJECT: Chimpanzee Video Coding Team
FACULTY MENTOR: Vicky Oelze
Halena Soto
Anthropology / Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB)PROJECT: Harm Reduction for All / Reducción de Daños para Todxs
FACULTY MENTOR: Carlos Martinez
Rafael Revolorio Keith
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies / Global & Community HealthPROJECT: School Youth, Restorative Justice, and the Dilemmas of Structural Violence
FACULTY MENTOR: Rekia Jibrin
Elizabeth Pena Sanchez
Latin American and Latino Studies/Sociology
Lizeth Pena Sanchez
Education, Democracy and Justice/Latin American and Latino Studies/SociologyPROJECT: Black Muslim Worldmaking: Race, Religion, and Gender in the Lives of Black Muslim College Students
FACULTY MENTOR: Saskias Casanova
Theresa Bostic
History and Sociology
Jade Goree
Psychology and Education
Zina Hamrouni
PsychologyPROJECT: Educational Equity in Agroecology Curriculum and Programing at UCSC
FACULTY MENTOR: Damian Parr
Savannah Benefield
Agroecology
Mauricio Chavez
Agroecology
Paradyse Oakley
Critical Race and Ethnic StudiesPROJECT: Educational Enclosures and the Digital Divide
FACULTY MENTOR: Roberto de Roock
Arianna Fabian
Education, Democracy, & JusticeSophia Partida
Psychology & SociologyPROJECT: Intersections of Race, Affect and Environmental Action
FACULTY MENTOR: Flora Lu
Laura Galanos
Critical Race & Ethnic Studies/EconomicsParadyse Oakley
Critical Race & Ethnic Studies/Community Studies/PoliticsPROJECT: Solar Geoengineering Governance: Justice for Who?
FACULTY MENTOR: Sikina Jinnah
Arien Hernandez
Environmental StudiesPROJECT: Language Comprehension and Cognitive Control
FACULTY MENTOR: Megan Boudewyn
Lea Toledo
Cognitive SciencePROJECT: Gen Z, Social Media, and Visibility: Navigating the Intersections of Gender and Sexuality
FACULTY MENTOR: Adriana Manago
Gabriella Garcia
PsychologyPROJECT: Education’s Surveillance Quandary: Exploring the Cost vs. Convenience of Post-COVID Technology Application
FACULTY MENTOR: Nolan Higdon
Luyue Zhang
Education and Sociology
Maria Cecilia Soto
Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism/TESOL & Linguistics
Joshua Garcia
Education, Democracy, and JusticeAlexandra Marie Santos
EducationPROJECT: Developing an SES Framework for Restoration Decision-Making Under Climate Change
FACULTY MENTOR: Carrie Pomeroy
Carly McCaw
PsychologyPROJECT: The “Hot Cheeto Girl”: Gender Performance and Latina Mobility
FACULTY MENTOR: Julie Bettie
Leslie Abigail Marquez
Community Studies
Daniela Obeso
Psychology
Lizeth Guadalupe Calderon Cervantes
Legal Studies
Saul Ordaz
SociologyPROJECT: Collective Temporal Thought
FACULTY MENTOR: Jeremy Yamashiro
Gavin Provencio
Cognitive Science
Lucinda Veloz
Psychology
Itzia Duque Cordova
PsychologyPROJECT: Social Impact of COVID-19 Study: Understanding Pandemic Loss and Grief
FACULTY MENTOR: Alicia Riley
Eileen Amador
Legal Studies and GISESPROJECT: EEG Replication Project
FACULTY MENTOR: Liv Hoversten
Mia Laskan
Cognitive Science
Guadalupe (Lupita) Mercado
Cognitive SciencePROJECT: Day-to-Day Teacher Activism for Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
FACULTY MENTOR: Josephine Pham
Autumn Montez
Intensive Psychology
Juli Sofijski
SociologyPROJECT: We Belong: Collaboration for Community-Engaged Research and Immigrant Justice
FACULTY MENTOR: Steve McKay
Crystal Alvarez Castillo
SociologyAlysia Leon
SociologyPROJECT: Building Diversity in Sociology and Science, Technology, and Society Studies
FACULTY MENTOR: James Doucet-Battle
Andrea Asher
Sociology/Biology
Dimitri Cardona
SociologyPROJECT: Assessing Habitat Use by Mammals and Birds in Restored Tropical Forest
FACULTY MENTOR: Karen Holl
Selma Ruiz
Environmental Studies
Karla Vaca
Environmental Studies/BiologyPROJECT: Building Capacity for Mitigating the Climate Crisis
FACULTY MENTOR: Michael Loik
Daisy Ramirez
Undeclared
Azarely Bedolla
Environmental Studies/Environmental SciencesPROJECT: Intersectionality, Close Relationships, and Sense of Belonging in First-Generation College Students
FACULTY MENTOR: Margarita Azmitia
Isabelle Vo
Psychology
Kayla Mendoza
Sociology/Legal StudiesPROJECT: Impacts of Wildfire on Crop Productivity
FACULTY MENTOR: Elliot Campbell
Yara Sheikhvand
Environmental StudiesPROJECT: Family Planning Incentives and Child Health: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
FACULTY MENTOR: Ariel Zucker
Kai Kohlwes
Economics
Sanjana Dukkipati
Business Management Economics
