UEPI’s faculty and professional staff represent fields of environmental and public health, housing, urban planning, law, public policy, non-profit management, and more.
Staff work closely with the professors in the UEP academic department, and also collaborate with other college departments including the Center for Community Based Learning and Student Leadership, Involvement and Community Engagement. Staff are housed at two different locations on campus, 1541 and 1882 Campus Road.
Sharon Cech (she/her) is a Program Director at the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College (UEPI). With over a decade of experience working to advance farm to school, farmers’ markets, and other local food systems projects that support small-scale and urban producers, her work...
Mijin Cha's research focuses on climate change, green economy, and the intersection of race, class, and the environment. Her writing has appeared in several outlets, including The American Prospect, the Huffington Post, Grist, Dissest, Truthout, The Hill, and Policyshop. She is a graduate of Cornell...
Peter Dreier has been involved in urban policy as a scholar, government official, reporter, and advocate for over 30 years. He writes widely on American politics and public policy, specializing in urban politics and policy, housing policy, community development, and community organizing. He is also...
Raquel Galarza is the Health Education Manager for the LA Farm to School Initiative at UEPI. Her work focuses leading nutrition education initiatives in local community sites, as well as empowering community members to make changes towards healthy, active lifestyles. In her previous position at...
Cecilia (she/her) is the Project Coordinator with the Moving Forward Network. The Network centers grassroots, frontline-community knowledge, expertise, and engagement from communities across the US to uplift and assist frontline experts in transforming the freight transportation system. She helps to...
Robert Gottlieb’s research focus is on environmental and food justice, power and inequality, resource politics, alternative transportation, place-based development, global cities, and the infrastructure of everyday life. He is the author of numerous publications, including fourteen books. A few of...
Molly Greenberg (she/her) is the Project Coordinator with the Moving Forward Network. She helps to support the MFN organization and campaigns. The Network aims to build power with communities to transform the global freight transportation system and advance environmental justice. The Network works...
As project manager for the Moving Forward Network at UEPI, Wendy helps manage day to day operations for the MFN. The Network links community-based organizations, scientists, environmental, health, research, legal, media, and coalition advocates, and builds the individual and collective capacity of...
Amy Jarboe joined as the Grants & Finance Manager at UEPI in 2021. She helps support the financial and compliance management of grants within UEPI. Her responsibilities include pre and post award contract and grant support to UEPI program staff and faculty Principal Investigators. She also...
Candice Kim is the Project Director of the Moving Forward Network located at UEPI. The network seeks to transform the global trade system by supporting the organizing, advocacy, education and research efforts of partners around the United States towards improving public health, quality of life...
Kelly Marie Martin has joined the Moving Forward Network staff as Special Projects Manager. She is an artist, musician, and nonprofit development professional - with over a decade of experience in grant writing, fundraising and communications. Previous to MFN she was on staff with active...
Martha Matsuoka ’83 is the Executive Director of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute and an Associate Professor at Occidental College. She focuses her teaching and research on environmental justice, community-based regionalism, sustainable community development, and social movements. Her...
Seva Rodnyansky’s research focuses on urban policy related to housing, transportation, residential mobility and neighborhood change. His teaching interests include quantitative data analysis, urban policy and planning, housing policy, and transportation planning. Seva's current research looks at the...
Rosa Romero is a Program Director at the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI) at Occidental College. Rosa specializes in Farm to Preschool, Garden and Health curriculum development and teacher training. She is currently leading UEPI’s community-based EscWELLa initiative to enrich the...
Bhavna Shamasunder teaches and conducts research on issues related to environmental health and justice. She is interested in how community-based organizations can leverage science to advance their health and policy goals. Her previous research investigated how chemical biomonitoring has been...
1882 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA 90041
1541 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA 90041