Grad Student - ISSI

Cristina Mendez

Cristina S. Méndez (she/ella) is a Chicana educator, scholar, and poet. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley School of Education and a member of the interdisciplinary designated emphasis program in Indigenous Language Revitalization. Her research focuses on the lived experiences and sense-making of Maya Mam women lideresas who organize for the vitality of their language and culture and for the wellbeing of their communities across the United States, México, and Guatemala. Through her research and other collaborations, Cristina is committed to centering...

Elijah Mercer

School of Information, UC Berkeley

Elijah Mercer is an interdisciplinary researcher and advocate committed to driving positive social change through data-driven insights. Holding a B.A. in Criminology with a Minor in Communication Studies from American University, Elijah has dedicated his career to empowering marginalized communities. As the Founder and CEO of Data for JustUS, he leads a consulting firm focused on amplifying underrepresented voices through strategic support in data analysis, research, and communication strategies. Elijah's expertise extends to various fields, including crime analysis, policy evaluation, and...

Farnam Mohebi

Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley

Farnam Mohebi is a PhD student at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and a researcher in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco. She has previously earned her MD and MPH degrees. Her research focuses on the intersection of professionals and emerging technologies, drawing from the fields of medical sociology, organizational theory, and science and technology studies. She is particularly fascinated by the evolving relationship between physicians and artificial intelligence, the phenomenon of physician influencers, and...

Bernardo Moreno Peniche

Anthropology, UC Berkeley

Bernardo is a PhD Candidate in Anthropology. He studies the (dis)locations of tropicality in relation to the emergence of zoonoses and vector-borne diseases in the Global North. He focuses on Chagas, a parasitic disease transmitted by an insect vector, that has gained its epidemiological relevance in the US through its association with human migration from Latin America despite growing evidence of local transmission cycles that have continuously been part of US landscapes. He asks about the effects that framing Chagas disease as a foreign threat have on public health policy and clinical...

Michael J. Myers II

African American Studies, UC Berkeley

Srihari Nageswaran

Anthropology, UC Berkeley

Srihari Nageswaran is a PhD student in the Department of Anthropology at UC Berkeley. His prior research examined the relationship between India’s model of quasi-federalism and regionalist political mobilization in its southernmost state of Tamil Nadu. His tentative dissertation project leverages the tools of economic anthropology, critical geography, and South Asian studies to examine special economic zones in Chennai.

Lisa Ng

Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley

Lisa Ng is a PhD candidate in the Ethnic Studies Department with a Designated Emphasis in Science and Technology Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She interrogates the relationships between the racialized histories of waste and technology and their potential roles in social movements. Her current research examines how grassroots urban beautification projects in Asian (American) communities in Oakland, California, can represent new imaginations of relationality, resistance, and futurity. Beyond academia, she is an experienced multilingual community educator and...

Robert Ortiz Stahl

Anthropology, UC Berkeley

Robert “Bobby” Ortiz Stahl is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the David Minkus Memorial Graduate Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues. His dissertation examines how unhealthy housing becomes a governable problem through the intersecting practices of expert intervention, advocacy, and "policywork" in Oakland, California. Drawing on ethnographic research with policy and public health experts, housing advocates and affected tenants, Bobby traces how public policy solutions can both reflect and reshape the...

Anna Palmer

Sociology, UC Berkeley

Anna Palmer is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research examines the convergence of extractivism, (post)colonial development, and the climate crisis in the Caribbean through a qualitative and spatial lens. Her current project focuses on political decision-making and resistance to oil extraction in Guyana through content analysis and interview methods. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from Occidental College.

Joohyun Park

Sociology, UC Berkeley

Joohyun Park is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, she studies gender, medicine, law, and social movements. Her dissertation examines how the South Korean courts' interpretation of victims' medical records in sexual violence cases has evolved over time, analyzing the changing perceptions of victimhood through the lenses of agency and vulnerability.