Theme: Food, Water, & Health of the Central Valley

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Classroom and Office Building (COB) 102
5200 Lake Rd
Merced, California, 95343
United States

Arianna Daniel

San Joaquin Valley fever, also known as coccidioidomycosis, is a complicated disease to diagnose and treat. PhD student, Arianna Daniel, studies the host immune system during Valley fever infection and aims to increase public awareness of this disease. Being raised in the Central Valley, she is passionate about conducting and communicating research that will directly impact her own community.

Ashley Machado

Ashley is rethinking the way we support Mental Health in the food and agriculture space. She specializes in tangible tools and simple strategies through her corporate wellness and mental health trainings for ag families and businesses alike. Ashley grew up in the dairy industry and now farms and ranches with her family in California's Central Valley. She has her B.A in Human Development, and Masters in Social Work with an emphasis in Clinical Mental Health from the University of Southern California.

Josiah Beharry

Josiah Beharry is a first generation Critical Race and Ethnic Studies graduate with credentials and progressive experience in creative and research based writing. He is a recently admitted PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Humanities, with research interests in liberatory pedagogy and decolonizing curriculum grounded in arts-based education and trauma-rooted healing. Josiah has a passion for advocating for marginalized and underrepresented communities. He wants to help others heal from trauma by finding their voices and sharing their stories through his writings.

Melissa Rocha

Melissa Rocha is a professor of English with 20 years of experience teaching English to Central Valley college students. Having graduated with a Bachelor’s and Master’s in English from California State University, Stanislaus, Professor Rocha, a lifelong Merced County resident, began working for Merced College in 2004, serving its diverse student population through teaching literature, composition, reading skills, and critical thinking. Trained in Reading Apprenticeship techniques and a member of and leader of numerous faculty inquiry groups, Professor Rocha works to promote equity and student engagement in her courses. She will be starting the Interdisciplinary Humanities doctoral program at UC Merced in the Fall to continue gaining tools to meet the needs of Merced County students.

Shelby Defeo

Shelby is a 3rd year PhD candidate at the University of California, Merced in the Environmental Systems department. Their research focuses on understanding nutrient and metals cycling within California's water, as well as researching novel sensors for detecting contaminants. Prior to their work at UC Merced, Shelby earned a Bachelor of Science from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and served over 3,400 volunteer hours with AmeriCorps. When Shelby isn't working on water, you can find them working as an LGBTQ support group facilitator with Central Valley Pride and spending time with friends.

Tony Lopes

Tony Lopes is an agribusiness entrepreneur and 4th generation family dairy farmer. Upon graduation from California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo’s College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences, Tony rejoined his family farm in Gustine, CA as the Operations Team Leader. In his role, he integrates science, technology, and a strong existing workplace culture to more sustainably and efficiently produce high quality milk and beef. Focused on unlocking the power of business in food and agriculture to change people’s lives, Tony furthermore leads startups in the agricultural risk management, genetic data services, and supply chain development spaces.

Vicky Espinoza

Vicky Espinoza is a California native and has lived in the San Joaquin Valley for 6 years. As part of the Nature Conservancy’s California Water Team, she is developing and implementing strategies to ensure strategic and equitable agricultural land repurposing to create habitat for endangered natural communities, achieve water sustainability, and enhance human well-being. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of California, Merced where she developed a framework for strategic and equitable agricultural land use transitions to address groundwater overdraft under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and ameliorate environmental inequities persistent among San Joaquin Valley underserved, agricultural communities. During her PhD, she identified and addressed an information access inequity among marginalized community members and farmers through bilingual workshops and her trilingual (Spanish, Hmong, and English) YouTube channel, CaliWaterAg (https://www.youtube.com/c/CaliWaterAg). She received her master’s degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of Southern California and her Bachelor of Science degree in Geophysical Sciences with a concentration in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Chicago. Her prior applied research experiences include analyzing climate change impacts on atmospheric and hydrologic systems at Argonne National Laboratory, Pomona College, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.