Amanda A. Lee

Amanda A. Lee is a second-year PhD student in sociocultural anthropology with a minor in medical anthropology at University of Arizona. She has a BS in molecular and cellular biology from University of Arizona and an MPH in health policy and management from Boston University. Her research interests include medical systems and institutions, care for environmental exposure-related chronic illnesses, and environmental and racial justice in Tucson. She has worked for several years on health inequities studies in St. Louis, MO and Tucson, AZ. She is currently involved with a project that aims to reduce chemical exposures in auto and beauty shops using community-based participatory research methods. In addition to academic work, Amanda volunteers with local im/migrant-serving organizations and teaches K-12 students about science and the environment.

Belinda Ramírez

Belinda Ramírez

Belinda Ramírez is a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California San Diego. Her research deals with the racial, political, and economic dimensions of urban agriculture in the San Diego-Tijuana metropolitan region, and in particular in the creation of ethical communities. While researching these topics, Belinda was exposed to the fulfillment found in experiential learning and working firsthand to change her local food system, receiving agricultural training through local farms and her involvement with community gardens in southern San Diego. She has also engaged in statewide political advocacy for young farmers through the National Young Farmers Coalition and serves as the Food Justice Co-Chair for Slow Food Urban San Diego. Considering herself a farmer-scholar, Belinda manages food production at W.D. Dickinson Farm in National City. Looking to the future, she is excited to contribute to the transformation of the global food system through agricultural education efforts based within her own food production spaces as well as through political advocacy, research, and writing.