Carbon Sequestration Efforts through Reforestation in Oaxaca, Mexico
In August 2023 I collaborated with the Mixteco municipality of San Mateo Etlatongo in their carbon sequestration reforestation plan of reforesting with Pinus pseudostrobus var. oaxacana, among other varieties of juniper, oak, and creosote. I documented their contour ditch irrigation system in highly degraded mountainsides. I was designated a collaborator with the Bienes Comunales (communal goods) resource management team to further implement projects across the territory.
Indigenous Knowledge and Perspectives Intern,
Natural Resource Defense Council, INC.
Summer 2023
In the Summer 2023, I held the Indigenous Knowledge and Perspectives Internship with the Natural Resource Defense Council, INC. working closely with Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST) to support their work to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
I acquired skills with the NEPA process, Endangered Species Act, and other Environmental policy.
The work I integrate intersects between Ecosystems and Environmental Justice, advancing the best methods to integrate Tribal Sovereignty and Water rights.
Social Change Group
As a member of this cohort, I engaged in ethnographic qualitative interviews and focus groups with community members of the informal settlement, Los Platanitos, located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This is an ongoing insurgent planning project with the residents of Los Platanitos, Santo Domingo Norte to engage in critical and participatory planning techniques.
From this research, we compiled a report on the findings which was first revised by the community of Los Platanitos, then presented to the local government, Ayuntamiento Santo Domingo Norte, on March 17, 2023, in the Dominican Republic.
In January 2024, we published a co-authored book titled, "La Humanidad Sigue: Social Impacts of Infrastructure Upgrading in Informal Settlements." Please email me for a link to access the book.
For this project, we became recipients of the 2023 Community and Regional Planning Engaged Practice Award from the University of Texas at Austin's School of Architecture.
Boom Oaxaca
iOaxaca, Presente! Story Map
March 3, 2022 - August 14, 2022
I coordinated, with Saria Ramos Gonzalez, the production of the iOaxaca, Present! Story Map that was on display at the Boom, Oaxaca Exhibit at Arte Americas in Fresno, CA. It has been an honor to lend support for this incredible exhibit that is acknowledging Oaxacan Indigenous communities in the Central Valley who are creating places of food sovereignty, indigenous sovereignty, and cultural stewardship.