Teaching and Mentoring
I am who I am today based on the incredible teachers that have crossed my path throughout my life. My teachers and professors provided me with guidance, mentorship and friendship, and ultimately influenced me to become a university professor. The most inspiring teacher-mentors I have known challenged me and enriched my perspective and theoretical approach, which left with an insatiable thirst for more knowledge.
As a student, I have found that effective teachers critically identify issues and opportunities in the classroom and equip me and other students with the concepts and skills needed to address them. In essence, they enliven theoretical concepts by integrating them with active and experiential learning. Effective teaching and learning is also facilitated by creating a welcoming environment where students feel comfortable discussing ideas and also by employing a diversity of strategies in and out of class that make students active learners and critical thinkers.
Courses I have taught or am developing at UCSD
USP 2: Urban World System
USP 125: The Design of Social Research
USP 171: Sustainable Development
USP 190: Honors Thesis Seminar
ESYS 103: Environmental Challenges: Science and Solutions
USP 142C: Sustainable Food Systems
Undergraduate Students
I mentor both USP and ESYS seniors for their senior project, from issues ranging from sustainable agriculture to community gardens (including Roger’s Community Garden) to green infrastructure. Please reach out to me in advance if you are interested in mentorship since I do limit the number of students I can work with each year.
Examples of senior research projects conducted under my mentorship:
Amy Wong, ESYS (2022): Who are the New Generation of Farmers and What Motivates Them to Produce Food? Evaluating Motivations for Farming Among San Diego County Growers (with Prof. Mirle Rabinowitz-Bussell)
Madhulika Garimella, ESYS (2022): An Examination of the Impact of Land Use Change in San Diego County on Agricultural Opportunity and Food Sovereignty (with Prof. Mirle Rabinowitz-Bussell)
Parker Friederich, USP (2022): Water’s the Matter: How Water Regulation Impacts Food Production in Northern San Diego County (with Prof. Mirle Rabinowitz-Bussell)
Graduate Students
At UC San Diego
Master’s students:
Hayley Makinster (2021-2022), SIO Climate Policy: Opportunities for Incorporating Food Landscapes in Public Parks
In the UNAM Sustainability Science Graduate Program, Mexico:
Doctoral Students
Raymundo Sánchez (2020-present)
Abril Cid Salinas (2020-present)
Patricia Pérez (2016-present)
Shiara González (2015-2021): Procesos de cambio hacia la sostenibilidad: Cosecha de lluvia en comunidades indígenas de la Sierra Wixarika, Jalisco, México
Bertha Hernández Aguilar (2016-2021): Informalidad, agencia colectiva y alternativas de dotación de agua: la problemática del acceso al agua en dos asentamientos informales de Xochimilco, Ciudad de México
Master’s Students
Michelle Morelos (2020-present)
María Fernández Sánchez (2019-2022): Transiciones rurales urbanas y escenarios futuros en la zona periurbana Occidental de Puebla
Beatriz Ruizpalacios (2015-2017): El manejo de residuos sólidos en un humedal en la frontera urbana: El caso de San Gregorio, Atlapulco, Xochimilco