Thank you for your interest in the Center for Planetary Health Summer Work Experience Program! This program offers students a unique hands-on opportunity to work on projects related to conservation, natural resources, agriculture, nutrition, climate change, and environmental and health policy.
Fellowships start in June 2024. Selected students are expected to attend the 2024 Summer Work Experience Kick-off Orientation in May 2024. The orientation is designed to introduce students to effective strategies for science outreach and stakeholder engagement.
The Summer Work Experience Program is coordinated by the UCGHI Center for Planetary Health in partnership with the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension (UC ANR) and California Department of Conservation (DOC), and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). The program has supported 54 fellowships since 2017.
To apply for a summer fellowship and be considered for funding priority, please submit the applicant information and supporting materials requested in the application to planetaryhealth@ucdavis.edu by 5:00 pm PST on February 9, 2024. Applications will be reviewed in February. Following submission of their applications, applicants will be asked to review and rank (based on preference) specific fellowship opportunities. Interviews will be conducted, and successful applicants will be matched to the fellowship opportunities based on interest and best fit.
Applications submitted after February 10, 2024, will be accepted for consideration on a first come, first serve basis. Further information about the program as well as the desired skills, experience, and qualities of the fellows can be found below. Please direct any questions about the fellowship program or application to planetaryhealth@ucdavis.edu.
Download the application and email planetaryhealth@ucdavis.edu.
Bailey Cohen
Major: Animal Science and Asian American Studies
Department: College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Level of Study: Bachelor’s degree
Campus: UC Davis
Host Site and Mentor: Sierra Foothill REC, Nikolas Schweitzer
Bailey Cohen is a fourth year at UC Davis majoring in Animal Science with a minor in Asian American Studies. She will be starting her Master’s of Public Health the summer of 2023. She is passionate about the One Health approach and fighting health disparities within healthcare. She has worked with Knights Landing One Health Clinic, a clinic that provides free veterinary, medical, and dental care for lower-income communities. Bailey looks forward to developing Phase 2 of The Sierra Foothill Yuba Watershed Restoration Project, participating in data collection for the Red Oak Tree Project, and shadowing the veterinarian leading the cattle conjunctivitis intranasal vaccine trial at Sierra Foothill REC.
Nuri Flores
Major: Preventative Veterinary Medicine
Department: School of Veterinary Medicine
Level of Study: Master’s degree
Campus: UC Davis
Host Site and Mentor: UC ANR & UCCE, Devii Rao
Nuri obtained her DVM from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She is pursuing her Master’s in Preventive Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. Her research interests include studying interactions at the human, domestic animal, and wildlife interface, along with ecosystem conservation. This summer, Nuri will work with Devii Rao on a prairie restoration experiment to enhance the habitat for special status species at Pinnacles National Park.
Michelle Guerra
Major: Health Behavior
Department: Public Health
Level of Study: Master’s degree
Campus: UC San Diego
Host Site and Mentor: UC ANR, Kristin Dobbin and Georgia Kayser
Michelle is a second year Master of Public Health student at UC San Diego, with a Bachelor of Science in Neurology, Physiology, and Behavior from UC Davis. Michelle has practicum experience promoting public awareness of endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure from personal care products and cosmetics to high school students in the Pasadena Unified School District. She is currently working on her thesis about the association between perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) and serum lipid levels in Ecuadorian adolescents. This summer, Michelle will compile a comprehensive literature review on the adverse effects of glyphosate and potential interventions to reduce exposure near residential areas, campgrounds, and water sources. She also plans to formulate a commentary and issue brief on the forestation process in US National Forests and Parks.
Shibani Gupta
Major: Health and Behavior
Department: Public Health
Level of Study: Master’s degree
Campus: UC San Diego
Host Site and Mentor: UC ANR & DREC, Jairo Diaz and Georgia Kayser
Shibani Gupta is a Master of Public Health student at the University of California San Diego. She previously worked with neonicotinoid pesticides and their effect on non-target populations. This summer she is working with Dr. Jairo Diaz of UCANR and Dr. Georgia Kayser of UCSD on a literature review outlining the effectiveness of buffer sites around residential areas and schools in reducing pesticide exposure.
Moncerrat Hernandez
Major: Environmental Sciences
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Level of Study: Bachelor’s degree
Campus: UC Berkeley
Host Site and Mentor: UC ANR, Susana Matias and Federico Castillo
Moncerrat (she/her) is a second-year undergraduate student at UC Berkeley from Oxnard, California. Growing up in an agricultural city, she engaged with matters impacting farmworkers’ health. Her interests include the intersection between environmental justice, technology, and medicine. This summer she will be a part of a collective effort that analyzes the socio economic and health impacts of heat waves on agricultural outdoor labor.
Natalie Pinzon
Major: Geography
Department: Geography
Level of Study: Doctoral
Campus: UC Davis
Host Site and Mentor: UC ANR, Vikram Koundinya
Natalia is a doctoral student in Geography and specializes in the agroecology as a means to reduce on-farm and global climate risk. Her doctoral research focuses on how California farmers are preparing for, responding to and recovering from wildfires. Her action-research project is a multi-sector collaboration. This summer she will be working with Dr. Koundinya on the Climate Actions through Statewide Climate-Smart Agriculture Tools and Resources Development and Delivery Project.
Isha Poudel
Major: International Agricultural Development
Department: Plant Sciences
Level of Study: Master’s degree
Campus: UC Davis
Host Site and Mentor: UC ANR NPI, Lorrene Ritchie and Monica Zuercher
Isha is finishing her Master’s in International Agricultural Development this summer and advancing to PhD in Geography beginning in Fall 2023 with an emphasis on community nutrition and feminist studies. She’s interested in agriculture development with the intersection of food security and disaster resilience among vulnerable populations. This summer Isha will be working with her mentors on a policy-level research project to assess the challenges and successes of California's school meals after pandemic-related federal funding for universal school meals ended in June 2022.
Martina Sexton
Major: Conservation and Resource Studies
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Level of Study: Bachelor’s degree
Campus: UC Berkeley
Host Site and Mentor: UCCE Santa Clara, Lucy Diekmann and Aparna Gazula
Martina is a senior at UC Berkeley majoring in Conservation and Resource Studies with an interest in social justice and sustainable development. She is passionate about building community resilience and advocating for disadvantaged communities that have endured environmental injustices. She believes that urban farming is a key factor to building more sustainable cities. This summer she will be conducting small farmer interviews, creating educational materials in Spanish, and managing the Bay Area Urban Agriculture Map.
Jannie Xu
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Department: Biological Sciences
Level of Study: Bachelor’s degree
Campus: UC Davis
Host Site and Mentor: SVM and UC ANR, Alda Pires
Jannie Xu is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of California, Davis majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Her research interest is in infectious disease. She plans to work in research before attending graduate school in the near future. This summer she will work with Dr. Pires in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Department of Population, Health, and Reproduction on the Integrated Crop-Livestock Farms Project. The project focuses on the dynamics of foodborne pathogens in integrated crop-livestock systems involving grazing in orchards.
Yueheng Zheng
Major: Preventative Veterinary Medicine
Department: School of Veterinary Medicine
Level of Study: Master’s degree
Campus: UC Davis
Host Site and Mentor: UCCE Santa Clara, Aparna Gazula
Yueheng is a first-year master’s student in Preventative Veterinary Medicine. She obtained her degree in veterinary medicine in China and found her interest in interdisciplinary approaches in public health. Apart from monitoring animal health, she is passionate about improving public health by tracking risk factors of diseases and identifying association. She expects to communicate with farmers from different backgrounds and explore valuable suggestions with her knowledge. Her goal is to prevent zoonoses and improve public health. This summer she will be working with her mentors to investigate food safety and soil health in the face climate change and pesticide use.
Peter Bowman
Major: International Agriculture Development
Department: One Health Institute & Graduate Group in International Agriculture Development
Level of Study: Master’s degree
Campus: UC Davis
Host Site and Mentor: UC ANR & UCCE, Sarah Light
Peter is a second-year master’s student studying International Agriculture Development at UC Davis. His research focuses on community perceptions of animal disease and preventive veterinary care in rural Sierra Leone. This summer, Peter worked with Sarah Light of UC Cooperative Extension Sutter-Yuba on various projects related to soil health and agronomy. He is especially excited to explore the connections between soil health and specific agronomic practices, like grazing, through lab and field work.
Ashley Contreras
Major: Ecology, Evolution & Biology
Department: College of Biological Sciences
Level of Study: Bachelor’s degree
Campus: UC Davis
Host Site and Mentor: UC ANR, Eric Middleton
Ashley Contreras is a senior at UC Davis pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Ecology, Evolution & Biology with a minor in Public Health. They have a research background in plant, fish, and mammal health. Ashley's current research at the UC Davis One Health Institute involves understanding infectious diseases, where she is exploring the interface of animals, people, plants, and the environment to solve complex problems that impact health and conservation around the world. She aspires to become an epidemiologist specializing in marine ecosystems to contribute to the understanding and management of infectious diseases in this critical and fragile environment. Ashley was matched with Eric Middleton of UC ANR to conduct trials and experiments on Agave mites, which are significant pests in commercial nursery production in San Diego County. The study aims to understand the spread of diseases caused by these mites and their impact on agave. She is excited to continue her academic and research pursuits and hopes to make a positive impact on global health and conservation efforts.
2022 Summer Work Experience Fellows
The UCGHI Planetary Health Center of Expertise Summer Work Experience Program helps UC students gain valuable work experience by pairing them with host mentors from the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the California Department of Conservation, and the California Department of Public Health. Students gain hands-on experience by working in programs involved in conservation, natural resources, agriculture, policy, nutrition, and health.
Please join the PHCOE in congratulating the 2022 Summer Work Experience Fellows!
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Trent Baldwin Trent is a second year Master’s Student within the Community Development Graduate Group at UC Davis. Their research focuses on Positive Youth Development, health disparities, and participatory action research. Trent worked with Liliana, Ana, and Lucy to deliver STEM programming in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, assisting with development of youth curriculum on Ethnic and Racial Identity and Computer Science, and developed a program model and evaluation plan for a California Parks Dept. funded outdoor equity program that aims to increase youth and community access to outdoor spaces and recreation activities in underserved communities. |
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Kareena Barboza Kareena is an undergraduate student in the Plant Science department at the California State University, Fresno. This summer, she is working with Sandipa Gautam of the UC ANR Lindcove focusing on the IMP practices in Citrus. She is actively working with PCAs, collecting traps, and interpreting data. Kareen is also spending tie working with Ping Gu to help with multiple running projects for Sandipa. |
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Austin Brown Austin is a M.S. student in the Animal Biology Group at UC Davis where he works in Dr. AlisonVan Eenennaam`s lab. For his fellowship he helped collect and organize a survey and examination of the presence of Ovine Progressive Pneumonia to better understand the impacts of mastitis and early culling of ewes in California sheep flocks. This involved a lot of traveling across California to collect blood samples and offered amazing opportunities to interact with sheep producers from across the country. |
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Paulina DeBus Paulina is a second year Masters of Organic Agriculture student at Wageningen University and Research, with a Bachelors of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems from UC Davis. She is completing the last section of her studies, a fourmonth long internship, at Hopland Research and Extension Center where she is working on the cattle lease project and a webinar and symposium planning and outreach project on livestock integrated cropping systems for SAREP. She is looking forward to connecting with farmers in the area and creating meaningful outreach. |
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Erica Garibay Erica Garibay is a senior at UC Berkeley majoring in Conservation and Resources with an area of interest in sustainable agri-food systems. She is passionate about agroecological practices that build ecosystem health and increase resilience within local food systems. She also hopes to empower marginalized communities throughout her future career. This summer, Erica worked with Urban Agriculture and Small Farms teams at UCCE Santa Clara where she engaged with diverse stakeholders, including Spanish-speaking small farmers, profiled a local university’s student garden, researched and outreached to urban farms in the region, and translated summaries relating to organic management methods into Spanish. |
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Maya Homsy King Maya Homsy King is an MPH student in Global Health and Environment at UC Berkeley. She is interested in health at the human-wildlife interface and is especially interested in the borders between communities and national parks, and the ways in which we can prevent zoonotic disease spillover and promote healthy ecosystems in both areas. This summer, she is working with Gorilla Doctors at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to carry out an occupational health survey of park staff. She will be providing recommendations in the form of a report to the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Gorilla Doctors, and Bwindi Community Hospital on how best to improve health services for staff. |
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Elizabeth Isenhower Elizabeth Isenhower is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of California, Davis majoring in Animal Science. She is interested in veterinary public health and outreach. She hopes to work towards a DVM following graduation and wants to pursue a career in large animal veterinary medicine. This summer she worked with Dr. Pires in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Department of Population, Health, and Reproduction to develop biosecurity plans for small, mostly organic, multi-species farms. The project mainly focused on adapting biosecurity programs meant for commercial operations into practices that could be implemented by smaller farms. |
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Skylar Johnson Skylar is a veterinary medicine student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. They have a background in global disease biology and epidemiology. This past summer, they partnered with Dr. Ariel Loredo and Dr. Samuel Sandoval Solis in studying the effects of beaver dam analogues on surface water quality and their efficacy in reducing the burden of Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia duodenalis. I assisted my colleagues with study design, field work and laboratory processing. During the fellowship, they were able to improve their wet lab and field skills, as well as learned about hydrology, something that they had no previous experience with. Skylar hopes to use these new skills to be a better, more well-rounded veterinarian in the future. |
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Ariel Loredo Ariel Loredo is a graduate student in the UC Davis Epidemiology program in the labs of Dr. Woutrina Smith and Dr. Brian Bird. She is studying zoonotic disease dynamics in a wet meadow restoration and fire recovery in the northern Sierra Nevada. She is interested in working at the intersection of wildlife, zoonotic disease and the environment in an academic or government position in the future. As part of the SWEP program, she is paired with Dr. Martin Smith to help teach her the skills of managing application cycles for a complex program. |
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Alyssa Mandujano Alyssa Mandujano is a senior at UC Santa Barbara, receiving her bachelor’s degree in Global Studies, minoring in Poverty, Inequality, & Social Justice. After studying abroad in Barbados for the 2021/22 school year, Alyssa is passionate about social justice related work and back at UCSB studying to receive her Intersectional Justice Certificate. Alyssa is working with the Santa Barbara County 4-H Youth Development Program under Liliana Vega and is currently assisting with the development of the “Aventuras Afuera” program - seeking to provide quality, community based, outdoor education, environmental justice, identity development, Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion based programs to children from diverse and low-income communities in Santa Barbara County. Alyssa hopes to actively dismantle the psychological perpetuation of injustice and positively contribute to the lives of others by working to unearth the beauty, agency, and unique identities within young people across all cultures. |
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Siqi Wang Siqi Wang is a MPVM student at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, interested in emerging infectious diseases. Her professional goal is to become an epidemiologist in the Conservation Medicine and One Health framework. This is a fantastic career path that merges her interests in medicine, conservation, and the population health of all species. This summer, she is working with Dr. Emmanuel Okello on Infectious diseases of food animals at VetMed Teaching & Research Center, Tulare, CA. She is willing to get the hands-on working experience in infectious diseases with researchers, policy-makers, and dairy producers and gain insight into how professional connections are made and sustained. |
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Troy Williams Troy Williams is a Senior at UC Davis, completing a double major in Environmental Science and Plant Science, with a focus on crop-atmosphere interactions. Throughout his career, he hopes to use his skills to improve the sustainability, and the nutritional value of America’s food systems. Additionally, he hopes to contribute to increasing resiliency and food security in the face of a changing global climate. Troy has worked with multiple labs on the UCD campus and has recently partnered with the Master Food Preservers program to update a variety of web-based resources through the UC ANR website; spreading access to knowledge that will enable people all over the country to safely preserve foods in their home kitchens. This comprehensive and publicly available online resource can empower home gardeners to safely make their harvest last all year and cut down on food waste. |
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Allison Work Allison is an MPH student in the Environmental Health Sciences department at University of California, Berkeley interested in the relationship between land use and the health of the planet’s ecosystems and the people in them. This summer, she is working with Devii Rao of UCCE San Benito County on two projects relating to the impacts of cattle grazing on California lands: one focused on grazing’s role in improving habitat for special status species at a prairie restoration site in Pinnacles National Park, and another related to changes in grazing over time across the state and associated impacts on wildfire fuels |
