Building Belonging Student Showcase

May 25, 2022

The Institute for Social Transformation hosted an end-of-year celebration and student flash talk event to honor the work that has been accomplished in the Building Belonging program. Students who have been involved in the program in 2021-2022 will present their contributions to research projects. This event provides Building Belonging Fellows an opportunity to share their research with the community. Sponsored by The Institute for Social Transformation and the Division of Social Sciences.

Video Recording

Audio Clips

Student Presentations

Recovering the Indigenous and Colonial History of Oak Trees on the UCSC Campus  
Carmela Cenizeros (Anthropology)
Faculty Mentor: Andrew Mathews, Anthropology Department

Chimpanzee Video Coding Team    
Kayla Ott (Anthropology/Environmental Studies)    
Anthony Estrella (Psychology/Anthropology)    
Faculty Mentor: Vicky Oelze, Anthropology Department

Can Soil Scraping Help Improve Native Annual Wildflower Establishment?
Janine Tan (Plant Sciences)
Jennifer Valadez (Environmental Sciences)    
Faculty Mentor: Karen Holl, Environmental Studies Department

The Impacts of COVID-19 on U.S. Small Businesses 
Julian Barragan (Environmental Studies/Economics)    
Faculty Mentor: Robert Fairlie, Economics Department

Community Health Workers and the Mitigation of Misinformation about COVID
Edwina Malmberg (Sociology)    
Faculty Mentor: Matt Sparke, Politics Department

Bodies of Evidence: Legibility, Medical Uncertainty, and the Knowledge Problem of ‘Rape Kits’
Valerie Garcia (Sociology)
Juli Sofijski (Sociology)    
Faculty Mentor: Jamie Morse, Sociology Department

Building Research Capacity in Global Environmental Justice    
Alcides Fuentes (Environmental Studies)    
Caitlin Schlit (Environmental Studies)    
Faculty Mentor: Ravi Rajan, Environmental Studies Department

“You Gotta Keep Pushing”: How Immigrant People Regain Ontological Security and Withstand Colonial Trauma
Mitzy Acevedo (Psychology)
Jennifer Aimee Martinez (Sociology/Education, Democracy, and Justice/LALS)
Cristina Gonzales (Psychology/Sociology)    
Faculty Mentor: Regina Langhout, Psychology Department

We Belong: Collaboration for Community-Engaged Research and Immigrant Justice    
Marlene Nava (Sociology)    
Faculty Mentor: Steve McKay, Sociology Department

Indigeneity in the Constitution: Struggles for Ethnic Autonomy in Latin America
Dylan Waste (Politics)    
Faculty Mentor: Kent Eaton, Politics Department

Simulating Conversations    
Hananiel Suradji (Cognitive Science)    
Faculty Mentor: Jeremy Yamashiro, Psychology Department

Continuing Hybrid Out-of-School Activities Post-Pandemic: A Partnership with Salud y Cariño
Yaneli Calderon (Sociology/LALS)
Lizeth Bautista Amaro (Sociology)    
Faculty Mentor: Rebecca London, Sociology Department

Mistakes: A Friend or Foe of Learning?    
Mariah Ryan (Cognitive Science)
Siobhan Moher (Psychology)    
Faculty Mentor: Hannah Hausman, Psychology Department

Own-Race Bias in Face-Name Learning of Historical Figures
Kaylee Baker (Psychology)    
Faculty Mentor: Hannah Hausman, Psychology Department

We Belong Mapping Advocacy (Focus Groups)    
Tara Mcateer (Anthropology/Legal Studies)
Abigail Eduardo Espinosa (Psychology/Sociology)    
Faculty Mentor: Leslie Lopez, Community Studies Department

Whiteness and International Academic Mobility: The Impact of Living and Studying Abroad on the Racial Identity and Network Capital of White Brazilians
Alma Munguia-Galvan (LALS/Legal Studies)
Faculty Mentor: Patricia Pinho, Latin American and Latino Studies Department

Identifying Critical Environmental Work and Needs on Campus    
“The university needs to listen”: Moving from Mainstream to Critical Environmentalism at UC Santa Cruz, Senior Thesis by Serena Campbell, April 2023
Serena Campbell (Sociology/Critical Race and Ethnic Studies)    
Faculty Mentors: Hillary Angelo, Sociology; Emily Murai, Environmental Studies; Flora Lu, Environmental Studies

Into the Depths: Examining the Deep-History of Fishing    
Evelin Aquino Cruz (Anthropology)
Lauren Castaneda Molina (Anthropology)    
Faculty Mentor: Eréndira Quintana Morales, Anthropology Department

Insect Diversity and Ecosystem Services in Urban Agroecosystems    
Lauren (Louie) Dunn (Psychology)
Taemon Omololu (Environmental Studies)    
Faculty Mentor: Stacy Philpott, Environmental Studies Department

Climate Risk and FDI    
Dmitrius Rodriguez (Economics/Environmental Studies/Philosophy)
Axel Morales-Sanchez (Business Management Economics/ Mathematics)  
Faculty Mentor: Galina Hale, Economics Department

Unequal Loss: Social Impacts of COVID-19 Mortality in Latinx & Spanish-speaking Communities    
Eileen Amador (Legal Studies)
Robin Hernandez (Politics/Sociology)    
Faculty Mentor: Alicia Riley, Sociology Department

A Bibliography of Race and Health in Anthropology
Andrea Asher (Human Biology/Sociology)
Camryn Newburn (Anthropology)    
Faculty Mentor: James Doucet-Battle, Sociology Department

Colonial Disease Transfer and the Impact on Native South Americans    
Polette Garrido (Anthropology)    
Faculty Mentor: Lars Fehren-Schmitz, Anthropology Department

Understanding Attention and Language Comprehension    
Hassan Naeem (Cognitive Science)    
Lea Toledo (Cognitive Science)    
Faculty Mentor: Megan Boudewyn, Psychology Department