CCS People

The Team

Heidi Ballard
Founder, Faculty Director
Heidi’s research and practice have formed the foundation for the Center. She is leading the development of its overarching vision and mission, and building partnerships and collaborations across the University and beyond. She is Associate Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow at the UC Davis School of Education. Read more

Ryan Meyer
Executive Director
Ryan leads strategic, financial, and operational development of the Center, and collaborates on many of its research initiatives. He has studied science and society, and worked with governments and scientists to improve the links between science and decision making. Read more

Maryam Ghadiri
Postdoctoral Fellow
Maryam is the postdoctoral fellow on the LEARN CitSci project. She was previously the director of education and research at the Environmental Learning Center (ELC), a non-profit organization in Vero Beach, Florida. She holds a Bachelor’s in Environmental Science and a Master’s in Conservation Biology, both from the University of Tehran, and finished her PhD in Ecology & Free-Choice STEM Learning at the Center for Global Soundscapes at Purdue University. Read more

Erin Bird
Postdoctoral Scholar
Erin is a former high school science teacher and has founded and directed environmental education and farm-based education programs throughout the Bay Area. Her research interests focus on social and environmental justice through and within science education. She is leading our research on the Our Forests project.

Laci Gerhart-Barley
CCS Faculty Fellow
Lecturer PSOE, Department of Evolution and Ecology
Laci is leading our work on the the City Nature Challenge 2019. She is also using participation in citizen and community science as a component of a new course she is developing on the natural history of the Davis campus (titled Wild Davis) and potentially as part of a research program on assessing impacts of exposure to and participation in original research on students’ scientific literacy, interest in scientific degrees/careers, and perceptions of scientists and scientific inquiry. Read more

Peggy Harte
CCS Innovator Fellow
Peggy is the Elementary Science Specialist for the Dixon Unified School District. As a Project Partner in the Center’s Youth-focused Community and Citizen Science, and more recently as a co-instructor in our workshops for educators, Peggy has been sharing her experience and knowledge about doing citizen science with elementary school students, and helping us develop a model for inviting in experts to work with us on an ongoing basis.

Amanda Lindell 
Amanda is a PhD student at the School of Education. She is a former high school science teacher and informal science educator in New York City, and most recently oversaw teacher professional development, youth programming, and in-park interpretation at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Her research interests focus on the interplay of formal science education and environmental education in increasing scientific literacy. 

Chris Jadallah
Chris is a PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the School of Education. He received his B.S. in Conservation and Resource Studies from UC Berkeley, where he was also a researcher and project manager studying agroecology and native bee conservation. His research interests focus on people-place relationships and the connections between public participation in science and learning, with the ultimate goal of supporting community-based conservation and social-ecological resilience.

Eric Tymstra
Eric Tymstra is a PhD student in the Graduate Group in Ecology in Professor Gail Patricelli’s lab. His research focuses on sexual selection, foraging, and conservation, using the Greater sage-grouse as a model system. In addition to research objectives about sage-grouse biology, Eric also uses citizen science in his work. With camera traps and Zooniverse, Eric has spent the last two years working with high schoolers in California’s Eastern Sierra to help the BLM monitor grouse lek (the breeding ground male grouse display on) attendance. Students also designed and carried out their own research projects in the Spring of 2018. By interviewing students before and after the project, Eric plans to use his work as a case study for how students develop agency through participation in science both in the field and online.

Mackenzie Carter
Mackenzie is currently volunteering with our Center while she applies to the UC Davis Food Science and Technology graduate program. Mackenzie’s goal is to create a citizen and community science project to study the microbes in fermented vegetables by developing a protocol for participants to send her samples of fermented foods they make at home and an online community to share questions, recipes, and results. Her research background includes tissue engineering at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine and biomedical engineering at the University of Arizona.

McCall Fellows
McCall Fellows is an undergraduate Economics major. She is interested in youth engagement in science and how citizen science can lead to civic engagement. McCall is working as a student intern with CCS providing support with communication surrounding the center’s research. 

Rabida Abduwali
Rabida is an undergraduate Design major. She is interested in visual communication and wants to deliver important information to the public in an interesting way. She is currently working as a student intern with CCS and hopes to expand her knowledge of scientific research.

Sam Mellon
Sam Mellon is an undergraduate in the Community and Regional Program, minoring in Ethnic Studies. She is interested in the practice and dissemination of research to all communities as a tool of transformative change. At CCS, Sam is working as a student intern to assist with project management and internal organization.

Michael Montgomery
Michael is a fourth-year undergraduate at UC Davis. His major is Marine and Coastal Science – Oceans and the Earth System, and he plans to declare two minors: Professional Writing and History. Since 2018, he has been editor and lead author of the Monterey Audubon Society’s quarterly newsletter, The Sanderling. He joins the Center this fall as a writing intern.

Juliana Yee
Juliana is an undergraduate Environmental Science and Management major studying Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation, with a minor in Education. She is interested in how citizen science can help change people’s attitudes towards environmental conservation. Juliana is working as a student intern with CCS as part of the organizational team for the Sacramento Region City Nature Challenge.

UC Davis Affiliates

If you are interested in becoming an affiliate of the Center, and becoming an active member of our campus community, let us know about it here. 

Alfonso Aranda
PhD Student, Geography Graduate Group
Alsfonso is working on a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project focused on environmental health in farmworker communities.

Monique Borgerhoff-Mulder
Professor, Department of Anthropology Evolutionary Wing
Professor Borgerhoff Mulder is a human behavioral ecologist (HBE) working on projects relating to life history, inequality, natural resource management, and patterned cultural variation. Together with Professor Tim Caro and the Department of Forestry and Non-Renewable Natural Resources (Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar), and with support of Max Planck Institute funding, she is developing an education and citizen science centre in Pemba (Tanzania)”. Read more

Pernille Sporon Boving 
Academic Coordinator, Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology
I coordinate all the outreach, engagement and logistics for the APPLES workshops. APPLES is an NSF-funded project that provides hands-on training for K-12+ educators in research methods used to study plant phenological responses to climate change in the Arctic. We would like to broadcast our professional development workshops to K-12+ science teachers through a formal UCD interface. Read more

Jeffery Clary
Associate Director, UC Davis Natural Reserves
Read more

Jonathan Eisen
Professor, UC Davis Genome Center
Medical Microbiology and Immunology Population Biology
Eisen’s research focuses on the ecology, evolution and function of communities of microbes (aka microbiomes). Dr. Eisen has run or been involved in a diversity of participatory/citizen microbiology projects including ones involving microbes that live in and on cats (aka Kittybiome), the Space Station (Project MERCCURI), and humans. Read more

Carmia Feldman
Assistant Director, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden
The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden (APG) is interested in collaborating on citizen science projects. The Arboretum and Public Garden has incredible resources for projects related to plants, biodiversity, horticulture, conservation, restoration and more. We are interested in working with faculty, staff and students to develop appropriate projects. Read more

Benjamin Finkelor
Executive Director, UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute
Benjamin Finkelor is Executive Director of the UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute, an institution advancing impactful energy and energy efficiency solutions. Prior to joining the EEI, he served in a variety of roles within the clean technology sector.

Sara Giordano
Assistant Professor 
HATCH Feminist Science Shop
College of Letters & Science; Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies; Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
They with Dr. Rana Jaleel are co-founder and co-director of the first and only U.S. based feminist arts and science shop, HATCH: Feminist Arts and Science Shop at UC Davis, which is currently funded through the Mellon Foundation. Science shops typically provide space for non-academic communities to participate in the creation of scientific and technological research agendas. HATCH builds on this by including the arts and specifically orienting our research agendas towards social justice ends. Read more

Skye Kelty 
PhD Candidate, Center for Health and Environment
The Knights Landing Environmental Health Project is a collaboration between UC Davis Environmental Health researchers and the residents of Knights Landing. We are connecting university researchers and resources to meet needs in the Knights Landing Community. Read more

Ben Houlton
Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow, Global Environmental Studies;
Director, John Muir Institute of the Environment
Ben’s research interests include ecosystem processes and climate change. Most recently, Ben has been leading the new “OneClimate” initiative, which envisions a interdisciplinary, team-based approach to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and help people and ecosystems adapt to an uncertain climate future. Read more

Jonathan London
Associate Professor, Community and Regional Development  
Director of Center for Regional Change
Jonathan London is an educator, researcher, and community-builder with experience in participatory research, rural community development, and community engaged planning. Read more

Lee Martin 
Associate Professor, School of Education 
Lee Martin studies participation in making and the maker movement as activities that may help youth become more flexible and adaptive in their thinking and problem solving. In addition, he examines processes of identity development and sense of connection to STEM fields. Read more

Sarah McCullough
Associate Director, LWOS Science & Technology Studies
I work on participatory research in mobility justice, with a strong emphasis on making planning processes more engaged with local residents. This is part of a broader motivation to make research more responsive to community needs and involve communities in the process of undertaking research. Read more

Colin Milburn
Gary Snyder Chair in Science and the Humanities; Director, Science and Technology Studies Program; Professor of English, Science and Technology Studies, and Cinema and Digital Media
From an STS perspective, I have studied citizen science projects in nanotechnology, focusing on the role of narrative frames for engagement. I also work on video games for citizen science. I am currently involved in a re-design of Foldit. Read more

Sarah Oktay
Director of Strategic Engagement, Natural Reserve System;
Stebbins Cold Canyon Director
Sarah’s research focuses on climate change, carbon transport and harbor processes. After 9-11, she mapped the chemical signature of the World Trade Center ash and tracked it in the Hudson River. She strongly feels that scientists should communicate with the public and provide education services to all ages, and that place-based learning is the best route to achieve that. Read more

Gail Patricelli
Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow, Department of Evolution and Ecology
Professor Patricelli is collaborating with the Center to involve youth in research on sage grouse mating behavior. Read more

Eric Post
Professor, Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology
Post studies climate change, wildlife conservation, Arctic ecosystems, phenology, and species interactions. He is also involved in running the program APPLES, which is preparing middle school, high school, and undergraduate educators in polar research to engage their students in similar studies in the classroom. Read more 

Erin Satterthwaite
PhD Candidate, Bodega Marine Laboratory & Environmental Science and Policy
Erin works on the California Collaborative fisheries research project at Bodega Marin Laboratory, UC Davis. She has an interest in connecting graduate students with people in agencies who need monitoring and are thinking about community/citizen science efforts; understanding ways its been done and resources (ie: intro to comm/citizen science workshop/short course); and in marine and watershed programs. Read more

Mark Schwartz
Professor of Environmental Science and Policy
Professor Schwartz advises the Center, and has collaborated on a citizen science initiative at Stebbins Research Reserve. Read more

Kate Scow
Professor, Land and Water Resources
I direct the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility, a long term research experiment on agricultural sustainability and resilience. We host many workshops and field days, and connect to broad network of farmers, public and private sector actors, researcher and students. We are interested in doing much more in the area of citizen science particularly around the areas of regenerative agriculture, agroecology and climate change. We are a hub that is in the position to do a lot more. Read more

Heather Seagale 
Education and Outreach Director, Tahoe Environmental Research Center
Heather and colleagues have developed the Citizen Science Tahoe app to collect data on nearshore of Lake Tahoe (water quality/color/clarity, algae, litter, various species, aquatic invasive species). Read more

Jay Stachowicz
Professor, Department of Evolution and Ecology
I am a field ecologist and help run a distributed ecological network of seagrass communities throughout the northern hemisphere: zenscience.org Read more

Keith Taylor
Assistant Economic Development Specialist in Cooperative Extension,
Department of Human Ecology
Dr. Taylor is a Community Economic Development (CED) Specialist, interested in economic development approaches that are enduring, build localized self-reliance, and account for volatile market and political forces by breaking dependency. Toward these ends, Keith focuses on three CED relevant areas in the context of Californian, American, and international communities:

1. Community participation and governance. 
2. Economic development through local and alternative business development.
3. Market access and community power through scale.

Shane Waddell
Quail Ridge Reserve Director, John Muir Institute for the Environment, UC Davis Natural Reserve System
I am interested in place-based research and educational programs cutting across many disciplines and departments on campus, and willing to host citizen and community science projects. Read more

Anthony Wexler
Director, Air Quality Research Center; Distinguished Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, & Land, Air and Water Resources
Anthony Wexler works as director of the Air Quality Research Center, supporting collaborative research that educates and informs decision making around issues of air quality and climate change. His research interests include air pollution and applying engineering concepts to physiological systems. Read more

Neal Williams
Professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Professor Williams interests include Pollination ecology, bee biology with emphasis on foraging behavior, ecology and evolution of trophic specialization and plant-pollinator Interactions, landscape change and community dynamics, ecosystem services and conservation. Read more

Louie Yang
Associate Professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Professor Yang’s work on Monarch butterflies has engaged youth in monitoring activities as part of an after school program. Read more

Tabatha Yang  
Education and Outreach Coordinator, Bohart Museum of Entomology
I helped coordinate the MMMILC (Monitoring Milkweed-Monarch Interactions for Learning and Conversation) project that connects teenagers with research on monarchs and milkweeds. Read more

Alumni and External Affiliates

Meg Pannkuk
Meg received her Masters’ in Community Development at UC Davis, studying policy implications of shelter practices for the unhoused. At the Center, she coordinated research on citizen science and civic participation with Public Lab. Her former lives as baker, rafter, farmer, and carpenter help inform her work and curiosity about how knowledge is expressed and used for action.

Sara Ludwick
Sara recently received a degree in Environmental Science and Management studying Climate Change and Air Quality. She is curious about the factors that contribute to people’s attitudes toward the environment and the ways people can be motivated to act as environmental stewards. As a student intern with CCS, she researched climate-related community and citizen science projects with Ryan Meyer.

Sinead Brien
Sinead’s background is in secondary level science education and environmental education in Mozambique and the United States. Her current focus is on ways citizen science can support formal science education and contributes to youth development of science identity. She is pursuing her PhD at Michigan State University.

Colin Dixon
As an educator and researcher, Colin’s research at CCS examined youth development and science learning as a tool for young people to use in their lives and communities. Colin has completed his PhD and is now a Research Associate at the Concord Consortium.

Cristian Galindo 
Cristian is a sociology student here at Davis with a passion for the outdoors. His first exposure to CCS was through Dr. Ballard’s environmental education class where the students were involved in downloading the iNaturlist app and taking pictures of creatures seen on a daily basis. This experience sparked his interest to become more involved in learning how CCS benefits science today.

Emily Harris
Emily is a researcher and teacher educator interested in teacher and youth science learning, and identity work in the context of citizen science and school gardens. She received her PhD from UC Davis in 2017, and worked on the Youth-focused Community and Citizen Science project from its inception.  Read more

Jennifer Metes
Jen completed her MS with the Community Development Graduate group at UC Davis. Her work at the Center focused on the recruitment and retention of participants in coastal citizen science and how the use of citizen science data informs natural resource management and decision-making. Previously, Jen taught environmental education in several National Parks and worked as a field technician for the US Forest Service.

Déana Scipio
Dé served as a postdoctoral fellow for the first year of the Center’s LEARNCitSci project. She received her PhD at the University of Washington, and recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at TERC, a nonprofit education research and development organization based in Massachusetts. Dé now directs the Graduate Program in Education for Environment and Community at Islandwood.

Lina Yamashita
Lina is the Medical Programs Director for Volunteers in Asia, based in San Francisco. She received her PhD from UC Davis in 2017, and worked with Heidi Ballard on the NSF-funded EESIP project. Lina is interested in using the food system to explore as well as deepen students’ and teachers’ understandings of the social, environmental, cultural, and economic aspects of sustainability. Read more