91¿ì»îÁÖ

Fostering community-driven research and learning for social and environmental justice

News

Sowing for the Long Harvest of Environmental Justice

Planting the seeds of social change through education has always been a long-term effort that takes many years to come to fruition as our students and research move out into the world, and our community partners organize and advocate for justice. This issue highlights the seeds we are sowing today in the hope that they will provide for a long harvest in the years to come. These seeds are in our students’ collaborative research presentations at 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s recent Sustainability and Justice Symposium and our courses, in our donors’ faith in us on our recent Day of Giving, in the work of our programs for food, water, climate, and youth justice, in the new faculty participants enrolling in our summer workshops on teaching ecological justice across the curriculum, and in our new research grant recipients. Above all, these seeds are in the ongoing work of our many community partners, which inspires us to research, teach, and learn with them.

Over 100 Presenters at 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s Annual Sustainability and Justice Research Symposium

In March, the Initiative co-organized 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s annual Sustainability and Justice Research Symposium with the Center for Sustainability and the Environmental Studies & Sciences Department. Over 100 91¿ì»îÁÖ student, faculty and staff presenters from across the university showcased their research projects to advance the common good and protect our common home. Lightning talks and poster sessions addressed a huge range of topics, including sustainable development, Indigenous environmental justice, climate, water justice, renewable energy, food security, conservation and land management, AI, education and communication for sustainability and justice, and more. Presenters included the Initiative’s Chad Raphael, Iris Stewart-Frey, and Chris Bacon, and and many Senior Capstone students and research teams. 91¿ì»îÁÖ leaders opened many sessions, including President Julie Sullivan, Provost James Glaser, Vice-President for Inclusive Excellence Shá Duncan Smith, and College of Arts & Sciences Dean Daniel Press.  See the full schedule of presentations. The symposium was co-sponsored by the Sustainable Business Institute, the Division of Mission & Ministry, the Miller Center for Global Impact, and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Day of Giving Unlocks Challenge Grants

In April, generous donors contributed a record amount to the Initiative on 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s annual Day of Giving, helping us to unlock a $5000 challenge grant. Donations will support student researchers to apply their skills directly to community needs for food security, access to safe water, protection from toxic chemicals, and other environmental justice issues around our region and around the world. Contributions can be made to the Initiative all year round through our website.

Thanks to Nishi Goyal and Welcome to Isa Gee

(Web Design & Engineering and Studio Art ‘28) is completing her work as the Initiative’s Communications Intern. We’re especially grateful to her for ensuring our website met accessibility compliance standards and developing a consistent social media reposting strategy that increased engagement across platforms. In addition to her work with us, Nishi has conducted user experience research at the Human Computer Interaction Lab and is helping to develop the MayaRoots climate resilience app for farmers through 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s Frugal Innovation Hub. Thank you, Nishi!

Isa Gee (Psychology and Studio Arts '28) has joined us as our new Communications Intern, and she’s learning fast. Alongside her work with the Initiative, she is a graphic designer at the Miller Center for Global Impact, a Lead Scholar, and a member of student clubs such as Barkada, Changing Health Attitudes + Actions to Recreate Girls, and community service groups. Welcome, Isa! 

Water and Climate Justice

Progress on Advocacy for Clean Water in California’s Central and Salinas Valleys

A coalition advocating for clean water continues to grow and add important voices to several processes that aim to bring groundwater nitrate concentrations in agricultural areas to safe levels. It has been known for decades that certain regions exceed safe levels by multiple times, and that people in these areas are dependent on shallow wells for drinking. Long-term solutions that reduce fertilizer applications to levels that can be taken up by crops and prevent leaching to the water are urgently needed. However, even though the Porter-Cologne Act requires the State Water Board to do so, resistance by the agricultural industry has prevented enforceable limits for decades. In the meantime, rural communities continue to suffer the negative health effects. A coalition of about 15 organizations, including the Initiative’s Water and Climate Justice Program and 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s Water and Climate Justice Lab, meets weekly and has brought internal experts and community members to testify on behalf of limits to nitrate discharge in the State Water Board’s expert panel process multiple times over the past year, including several presentations by 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s Iris Stewart-Frey and Jake Dialesandro. The coalition has been providing data analysis, new science, public comment letters, and support for advocacy and new legislation (such as .

As part of these efforts, a Nitrate Contamination Strategy Meeting was held at 91¿ì»îÁÖ on May 6th. Iris Stewart-Frey and the Water and Climate Justice Lab collaborated with the Community Water Center, the California Rural Legal Assistance, the Environmental Law Foundation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Clean Water Action, the Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability, Monterey Waterkeepers, and the California Coastkeeper Alliance to organize a one-day multilingual conference. Over 50 representatives from environmental organizations, community committees, and academia heard community testimony on the prevalence of cancer in young people, shared information, and developed strategic goals for nitrate regulatory programs (such as CV-SALTS, Ag 4.0, and the Dairy Order) and clean water advocacy. Iris Stewart-Frey and Jake Dialesandro presented  on how nitrate in groundwater varies in space and time, especially near Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).

Climate Resilience for Smallholder Farmers: A New Article, Seed Grant, Collaborative Meeting, and Award

A in the International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management describes the development of frugal innovation tools and strategies to address the disproportionate impacts of climate extremes and to support climate resilience and agricultural decision-making through community-academic partnerships. This study shows how this approach localized global climate science for vulnerable farming communities, in part by developing the NicaAgua mobile app, which integrates real-time weather data, forecasts, and climate trends with user-friendly visuals and interpretive guidance. The article proposes effective strategies for designing equitable, accessible digital tools to support climate adaptation, offers lessons on fostering transboundary academic-community collaboration, and contributes to building smallholder farmers’ capacity to manage climate risks in Central America. The study was authored by Iris Stewart-Frey, with Allan Baez Morales and Ed Maurer (Frugal Innovation Hub, Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable, Engineering), Qiuwen Li (Art and Art History) and students Bri Guingona (Environmental Studies ’25) and Arturo Torres Torres Landa (Computer Science, Mathematics ’26).

The research team, under the leadership of Maia Dedrick, an affiliate of the Initiative and of the Water and Climate Justice Lab, also received a follow-up Whitham Foundation grant to develop a sister mobile app called Maya Roots to preserve traditional indigenous knowledge and build resilience and decision-making tools for environmental change. On April 28, the team hosted collaborator from the Universidad De Oriente Valladolid Yucatan Mexico for a day of presentations and discussions. An 91¿ì»îÁÖ Engineering senior design team and an Environmental Studies and Sciences capstone team worked on developing a framework and layers for the app this academic year.

Stewart-Frey also received the 2026 Impact Excellence Award from 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s Miller Center for Global Impact for her work to advance water security and climate resilience in Nicaragua through the NicaAgua app. She also guided student fellows in exploring JIBU, a social enterprise expanding access to safe, affordable drinking water across eastern Africa through a locally driven franchise model—creating opportunities for entrepreneurs, especially women, while addressing water scarcity.

Data Centers Expanding into Water-Stressed, Vulnerable Communities in California

A by Iris Stewart-Frey, Irina Raicu (91¿ì»îÁÖ Markkula Center for Applied Ethics), and the nonpartisan think tank Next 10, finds that California’s rapidly expanding data center industry is increasingly locating facilities in socio-economically vulnerable and water-scarce regions, raising concerns about long-term water sustainability and at-risk communities. The report is the first comprehensive analysis of every known operating and planned data center in California through a combined water access and social vulnerability lens. The authors also find that publicly available information on data centers’ water use and their environmental impacts is extremely limited, making it difficult for communities, water providers, and policymakers to fully understand and plan for these demands. The report concludes that while data centers are an essential part of California’s digital economy, their continued expansion must be accompanied by stronger transparency, more consistent environmental review, and integrated planning that considers water, energy, and community impacts together. With more comprehensive data and inclusive decision-making, California has the opportunity to align data center growth with its broader climate, water, and environmental justice goals. The report was discussed by several radio stations and news outlets, including , , and the .

Join the authors on Thursday, June 11th at 11am PT for a webinar to discuss the report's key findings, implications, and recommendations for policymakers, local governments, and data center facilities. beforehand.

Food and Climate Justice

La Buena Tierra Farm Field Visit

Students in Chris Bacon's Environmental Studies capstone class, along with research assistants from the Initiative’s Climate and Food Justice Program, and Bacon’s , visited , a six-acre organic certified farm in Salinas owned by Maria de Los Angeles. Students learned about farm diversification, farm-to-school partnerships, women's farm labor, and the current challenges small-scale farmers face. The group also discussed lessons learned from the farm’s collaboration with organizations such as Veggielution, Fresh Approach’s Farms Together program, and the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County. Students also conducted an interview to assess the obstacles and opportunities for reducing food loss and recovering food donations from small-scale farmers. These materials and the subsequent analysis contributed to a final capstone project authored by Anna Keenan (Environmental Science ‘26), Caitlin DeLaMora ( Environmental Studies and Political Science ‘26), Jenna Martinez (Environmental Studies ‘26), and Vansh Malik (Environmental Studies and Political Science ‘26). Kate Parent (Communication ‘28) recorded video used in the design of a new food systems professional development course the Lab is developing for the County of 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s employees.

Public Comment on Air Pollution and School Children’s Health in San Jose

Parents at Gardner Elementary School recently reached out to Christopher Bacon to testify about the potential environmental justice implications facing their community. Chris provided a public comment during a San Jose Unified School District (SJUSD) Board meeting on March 26 in front of over 1,000 participants, addressing a potentially unintended consequence of the district’s proposal to close schools and consolidate campuses. The concerns center on the District’s plan to move Hammer Montessori to the Gardner Elementary site, which sits within 500 feet of Interstate 280 near the Highway 87 interchange. This site was identified as having one of the highest potentials for negative environmental exposure in a preliminary Air Pollution Analysis of 91¿ì»îÁÖ County Public Schools. This analysis, conducted by Iris Stewart-Frey, Chris Bacon, and several students, was previously published in a research article and shared in an earlier  highlighting the vulnerability of schools in high-traffic corridors. Bacon emphasized the risks and the need to invest in mitigation strategies, such as an improved HVAC system, sound walls, and vegetative barriers to improve air quality on campus and in the classroom.

Youth and Environmental Justice

Fernández Discusses Youth and Social Change

Jesica S. Fernández was interviewed by 91¿ì»îÁÖ Magazine for an article on what young people can teach adults about social change. Fernández describes her interest in creating places and opportunities – like her Youth for Justice Project – for young people to develop their voices, and to be heard and valued. The interview is part of a series about how 91¿ì»îÁÖ faculty members’ scholarship relates to Jesuit values of curiosity, reflection, and service to the common good. Speaking of her undergraduate research assistants, Fernández observes, “It’s been inspiring to see how motivated they are to make ethnic studies and environmental justice content accessible and engaging for younger students, especially since many of them didn’t have exposure to these topics when they were their age in school.”

Teaching and Workshops

Summer Sustainability & Justice Workshops Attract Faculty and Staff

Around 50 faculty and staff leaders from across the country have enrolled in one or more of our upcoming summer workshops on integrating sustainability, environmental justice, and integral ecology across the curriculum, which are offered in partnership with 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s Center for Sustainability. The three online summer offerings include an introductory workshop and intermediate workshops on environmental justice and integral ecology subject matter, and teaching methods. 91¿ì»îÁÖ is a national training center affiliated with the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). While registration for this summer’s workshops has closed, interested faculty and staff can apply for next year’s workshops starting in February 2027 at the link on our website.

Environmental Communication Course Develops Campaign Materials

Student teams in Chad Raphael’s winter quarter Environmental Communication course developed social media postings, videos, and other materials to support several of the 91¿ì»îÁÖ Center for Sustainability’s current campaigns. The campaigns aim to alert food-insecure students about 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s Slack channel that invites followers to pick up free food left over from catered campus events, persuading students to dine in at Benson on reusable dishes rather than taking food to go on plastic, informing students about how to use public transportation rather than bringing cars to campus, helping students plan for a zero-waste move out from campus housing at the end of the academic year, and imagining what a sustainable 91¿ì»îÁÖ would look like in the year 2046. An additional team created designs for a one-stop guide to environmental justice learning, research, internships, and careers, which will inform the development of a new area of the Initiative’s website.

Research Grants

Highlights of research supported by our research grant program.

Cooling the City

Ted Grudin (Environmental Studies & Sciences) and Stefie Gan (Art & Art History) will use animation and community partnerships to raise awareness about urban heat and unequal tree access in Bay Area neighborhoods. Cooling the City creates accessible education and supports urban greening efforts in lower-income neighborhoods, in collaboration with representatives from Our City Forest, Environmental Volunteers, and the Palo Alto Youth Climate Advisory Board.

Co-designing a Teacher Professional Development Program for Justice-Oriented Climate Education

In response to recent mandates for climate education in California science classrooms, Won Jung Kim (Education) and Xiaochen Luo (Counseling Psychology) are conducting community-engaged research with the 91¿ì»îÁÖ Unified School District and the Tech Interactive museum to design a locally-grounded teacher professional development program that centers climate justice and action, while supporting teacher and student mental wellness through critical hope.

Alumni/ae News

Katie Duffy Wins a Fulbright to Study Food Security in Zambia

Katie Duffy (Political Science ’24), a former Student Researcher for the Initiative’s Climate and Food Justice Program, has been selected for a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to participate in a cross-cultural exchange and conduct research in food security, environment, and health in Zambia. Christopher Bacon is one of several professors who supported Katie’s application and her work at 91¿ì»îÁÖ. Katie first joined Bacon’s Agroecology, Climate Resilience, and Food Justice Lab in 2023 as an Ignatian Center Fellow, where she proved to be an outstanding writer and researcher focused on the 91¿ì»îÁÖ Student Basic Needs Project. Her work on analyzing over 1,600 surveys, writing two university-wide reports, and passing student government legislation helped the University create 91¿ì»îÁÖ’s first Basic Needs Committee, a significant investment that earned her awards at graduation. As a senior, Katie also contributed to National Science Foundation-funded research assessing smallholder farmers’ food security and climate change adaptation in Nicaragua. This body of work with the Initiative has advanced food justice at 91¿ì»îÁÖ and helped prepare Katie for her upcoming research in Zambia.

Rachel Lin-Peistrup Will Join the Peace Corps

Rachel, a graduating senior and research assistant in the Water and Climate Justice Lab, will be joining the Peace Corps for the next 2+ years. She will be going to Jamaica as a Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator, where she will work with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority and local farming communities to conduct needs assessments, develop work plans, and collaborate with community partners to implement projects that improve agricultural productivity, such as sustainable soil and water conservation techniques. At 91¿ì»îÁÖ, Rachel has co-authored a study on AI data centers and water scarcity in historically marginalized communities in California. Rachel led the part of the work that sought to identify the environmental review processes and projected water use for current and planned data centers. Rachel was also a Miller Center and Sigma Xi fellow and analyzed domestic well water samples for nitrates and heavy metals for the Lab’s work on safe drinking water. 

Bowmani Publishes Chapter on the Climate Crisis

, an alumnus of 91¿ì»îÁÖ School of Law and a former member of the Initiative, who is now an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Toledo, published “Queering the Climate Crisis,” a chapter in the open-access anthology from Cambridge University Press. Professor Bowmani’s chapter draws on queer theory to analyze climate change discourse, revealing how the ideological basis of carbon capitalism blocks the pursuit of climate justice and contributes to broader systemic injustice.

Partner Spotlight

Local Color

Established in 2015 in San José, is an artist-powered nonprofit organization that builds equitable pathways for local artists and creatives to thrive, and to draw vital connections between people and place. Local Color’s Creative Service program facilitates the creation of thoughtful, community-centered artwork and activities for its partners and clients. The group’s Creative Experiences Program connects artists to meaningful opportunities to facilitate workshop activities. Its Arts Education program provides art-making opportunities and in-school creative workshops for youth. Local Color also operates the noble workshop & gallery in San José, housed in a 100% affordable housing development, which hosts exhibitions, hands-on workshops, and community events.. 

This year, the Initiative’s Youth for Justice Project, under the guidance of Jesica S. Fernández and a team of three undergraduate students—Ashley Orozco-Plata, Linda Soto and Milagros Cruz-Jimenez—collaborated with Local Color to deliver a series of arts-education workshops to support the creation of a mural at on themes of environmental justice and community thriving. During these workshops, youth learned technical art skills, such as how to work with water colors, sketching, composition and collaging. With guidance from arts educators and local muralists Jessica Camen and Augie WK—also known as —youth have explored the importance of utilizing art for social change, public advocacy and community empowerment.  The mural was celebrated at a May 19 community unveiling to showcase the art, as well as the stories, voices and lived experiences that inform the themes and visuals in the mural.