Meet The Team!
Lydia Bleifuss
Lydia Bleifuss graduated from Lewis & Clark College in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and concentration in Surface Water Conflicts. During her undergraduate career Lydia focused on transboundary river management in the Western U.S. and abroad. As an undergraduate, Lydia interned for Waterkeeper Alliance researching over-allocated and polluted waterways in South America and the Southwestern U.S. Lydia went on to intern for WildEarth Guardians’ River Program where she built relationships with Rio Grande senior water rights holders and worked to identify water banking opportunities. After four seasons as a river guide and remote work as both the Futaleufú Riverkeeper International Relations Coordinator and Central Colorado Conservancy Watershed Program Volunteer, Lydia came to the Bren School. As a second year Master’s student and Sustainable Water Markets Fellow specializing in Water Resources Management, Lydia is focusing on how surface and groundwater interactions can be better integrated into river basin management considering climate change.
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Camila Bobroff
Camila graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies. During her undergraduate career, Camila developed a passion for studying how communities around the world adapt to climate change. She investigated farmers’ adaptation to climate change in Northern Ghana while studying abroad and conducted research for a National Science Foundation funded project on glacial melt in the Peruvian Andes. Utilizing both of these experiences, Camila wrote a thesis comparing how farmers in Peru and Ghana adapt to the effects of climate change. Since graduating, Camila has gained exposure to environmental policy, advocacy and grant writing while working in the non-profit and private sector. Her interests remain centered around climate change and have expanded to include water and coastal resource management. At the Bren School, Camila is focused on climate change impacts, mitigation, and adaptation.
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Jessica Jagdeo
Jessica Jagdeo graduated cum laude from the University of Florida in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Geology and a minor in Anthropology. Throughout her undergraduate career, Jessica developed geological field skills, which she applied in her summer field camp course in New Mexico in 2017. During this field course, she physically mapped the geology of Taos Ski Valley and created professional computer-generated maps. After completing field camp, Jessica desired to learn about geology outside the US, so she studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia for a semester. Although Jessica focused on geology as an undergraduate, she became interested in environmental science when she researched in Stanford’s Department of Energy Resources Engineering over the summer of 2016. There, she examined the environmental, economic, and social impacts of hydraulic fracturing activity in Williams County, North Dakota. Upon graduation, Jessica worked at the Orlando Science Center as a counselor in the STEM summer camp, engaging students in scientific projects. Jessica aspires to use her background in geology and potential specialization in Water Resources Management to work on the preservation of surface and groundwater systems through environmental consulting.
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Juan Espinoza
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Juan Espinoza, a second-year master’s student, graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a minor in Anthropology. Juan volunteered his time extensively with the groups Rotaract and Surfrider. Rotaract is a community service organization and in 2015 Juan became the president of the club. Juan helped organize a house build with the organization Corazon which constructs homes in Tijuana and Tecate, Mexico and provides social services for families in need. The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to protecting the beaches of the local community. Juan participated extensively with the Ocean Friendly Restaurant program, the goal is to remove single-use plastics from the restaurant to promote a more sustainable business model. Juan also helped lead the Ventura Strawless Challenge, in which Juan approached restaurants and asked to be straws upon request and not serve straws with their drinks. Over 30 restaurants took the pledge! Juan is currently studying Economics and Politics of the Environment and Water Resource Management and plans to eventually work for local government to pursue his goals for maintaining water quality and access.
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Faculty Advisors
Arturo Keller
Dr. Keller's research focuses on the sustainable use of chemicals and materials in our modern society, by understanding and quantifying their potential impacts, and seeking ways to minimize impacts while achieving the benefits. He is particularly interested in emerging materials, such as nanoparticles and biochemicals, for which little information is available. He also does work at large scales to design better management strategies for common chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides
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John Melack
Dr. Melack’s research emphasizes ecological processes in lakes, wetlands, and streams, and hydrological and biogeochemical aspects of catchments. He has conducted multi-year studies in eastern Africa, tropical South America and California, including research at Mono Lake, on Amazon wetlands and their ecology, on high-elevation ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada, and on the hydrology and solutes of streams bordering the Santa Barbara Channel. He is an elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and American Association for the Advancement of Science. He played a seminal role in the creation of the Bren School, and is the faculty advisor of the University of California’s Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve near Mammoth Lakes.
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