25 Stories from the Central Valley features a bilingual photo exhibit, interactive theater performances, teaching tools and oral histories about the environmental justice movement in California’s Central Valley. I designed it around the 25 interviews I conducted with women environmental justice leaders for my Master’s thesis at UC Davis.

Events

Playback Theater Performances with Kairos Theater Ensemble (slideshow)

• September 21, 2010 at the United Farmworkers of America’s 40 Acres, Delano. Kickoff evening event for the second San Joaquin Valley Funders’ Tour organized by the Women’s Foundation of California.
• May 8, 2009 at the UC Davis Buehler Alumni Center

Photo Exhibits

• Now: Photo exhibit at the Fresno Regional Foundation.  Spring/summer, 2012.
• Slideshow shown at the Labor Across the Food System conference, Santa Cruz, CA. February 5, 2012.
• Slideshow shown at community reading and Japanese anti-nuclear benefit, The Opening, Santa Cruz, CA.  October 22, 2011.
• Photo exhibit at the San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust.  February – March, 2011
• Photo Exhibit at the Nelson Gallery exhibit space in the UC Davis Buehler Alumni Center. April 23 – August 23, 2009

Presentations

Classroom Presentations

• “Combining Scholarly Research and Public Sociology.”  Sociology 103b, The Logic and Methods of Social Inquiry, taught by Rachel Bryant-Anderson at UC Santa Cruz, August 16, 2011.
• “Environmental Justice and Industrial Agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley.”  Guest speaker for Environmental Studies 133, Agroecology Practicum taught by Katie Monsen, and for the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture at UC Santa Cruz, August 9, 2011.
• “Explaining Women’s Activism: The Case of the Environmental Justice Movement in California’s San Joaquin Valley.” Community Studies 10, Introduction to Community Activism, taught by John Marlovits at UC Santa Cruz, May 17, 2011.
• “Explaining Women’s Activism: The Case of the Environmental Justice Movement in California’s San Joaquin Valley.”  Sociology 176, Women and Work, taught by Rachel Bryant-Anderson at UC Santa Cruz, April 26, 2011.
• “Crossing the Great Divide: Scholars and Environmental Justice Groups Working Together.”  Latino and Latin American Studies 164, Environmental Justice, taught by Flora Lu at UC Santa Cruz, April 5, 2011.
• “Environmental Justice in the San Joaquin Valley.”  Sociology 185, Environmental Inequalities, taught by Andy Szasz at UC Santa Cruz, March 31, 2011.
• “Introduction to Environmental Justice: The San Joaquin Valley.”  Environmental Studies 298.231, Duke Environmental Leadership Program – Community Based Environmental Management, taught by Elizabeth Shapiro, Duke University, March 15, 2011.
• “Introduction to the San Joaquin Valley Environmental Justice Movement.”  Democratic Education at Cal, Alternative Spring Breaks: Central Valley, taught by Lian Boos, UC Berkeley, March 9, 2011.
• “Getting the Word Out: Representing the Environmental Justice Movement.”  Theology, Ethics and Spirituality 64, Environmental Justice in the Catholic Imagination, taught by Keith Warner at Santa Clara University, January 18, 2011.
• “Environmental Racism, Environmental Justice: Kettleman City and the San Joaquin Valley.”  Sociology and Legal Studies 128i, Race and Justice, taught by Hiroshi Fukurai at UC Santa Cruz, November 18, 2010.
• “Environmental Justice in Kettleman City: Then and Now.” Latino and Latin American Studies 1, Introduction to Latino and Latin American Studies, taught by Susanne Jonas. UC Santa Cruz, April 15, 2010. With Flora Lu.
• “Engaged Scholarship in the Central Valley.” Latin American and Latino Studies 164, Environmental Justice, taught by Flora Lu. UC Santa Cruz, May 14, 2009.
• “Environmental Justice and Community-Based Research.” Capstone Seminar on Public Sociology, taught by Alison Alkon. University of the Pacific, Stockton, May 8, 2009.
• “Nature, Culture and Environmental Justice in the Central Valley.” American Studies 1E, Nature and Culture, taught by Julie Sze. UC Davis, May 20, 2008.
• “Women and Environmental Justice in the Central Valley.” Women and Gender Studies 50, Introduction to Women and Gender Studies, taught by Wendy Ho. UC Davis, March 4, 2008. With Julie Sze.

Other Presentations

• Upcoming: Panelist at Women as History-makers in California conference, University of the Pacific, March 24, 2012.
• “Kettleman City, Then and Now.”  Practical Activism conference at UC Santa Cruz, October 22, 2011.
• “Explaining Women’s Activism: Rethinking the Women’s Environmental Justice Narrative in California’s San Joaquin Valley.” Student Award Winning Papers panel at the Society for the Study of Social Problems Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, August 20, 2011.
• “Participatory Action Research: Challenges for Graduate Students.” Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section pre-conference workshop before the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, August 19, 2011.
• “25 Stories from the Central Valley: Lessons Learned.”  Panelist at ‘Participatory Action-Research Workshop: Civic Engagement Among Indigenous Mexican Migrant Youth,’ organized by Jonathan Fox and Gaspar Rivera at UC Santa Cruz, July 29, 2011.
• “Environmental Justice and Injustice in the San Joaquin Valley.” Panelist at environmental justice event organized by the Student Environmental Center and the students in Flora Lu’s “Environmental Justice” class in Latino and Latin American Studies at UC Santa Cruz, May 18, 2011.
• Panelist, Partnerships in Rural Areas. “Empowered Partnerships: Participatory Action Research for Environmental Justice.” Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, UC BerkeleyOctober 15, 2010
• “Becoming Political: Women and Environmental Justice in California’s Central Valley.” American Association of Geographers, Las Vegas, NV, March 27, 2009.
• “On Being Useful to Social Movements: Stories From an Academic-In-Training.” Decolonizing the University: Fulfilling the Dream of the Third World College. UC Berkeley, February 27, 2010.
• “Becoming Political: Women and Environmental Justice in California’s Central Valley.” American Sociological Association, San Francisco, CA, August 9, 2009.
• Panelist: “Engaged Scholarship in the Central Valley: Stories from the Field.” UC Davis, May 5, 2009.
• “Becoming Political: Women and Environmental Justice in California’s Central Valley.” American Association of Geographers, Las Vegas, NV, March 27, 2009.
• “Becoming Political: Women and Environmental Justice in California’s Central Valley.” Doing and Debating Development seminar series, UC Davis, CA, May 23, 2008.

Other use of photos

• Photos contributed for use in “Land of Risk/ Land of Opportunity: Cummulative Environmental Vulnerabilities in California’s San Joaquin Valley” by Jonathan London, Ganlin Huang and Tara Zagofsky. UC Davis Center for Regional Change, November, 2011.
• Cover photo of Pesticide Drift and the Pursuit of Environmental Justice by Jill Harrison, MIT Press, 2011.
• Slideshow accompaniment to “Global Warming Law Shifts Responsibility from Polluters to Communities” by Jeff Conant, AlterNet, April 21, 2011.
• Earthjustice newsletter and blog post for a national campaign to create pesticide buffer zones, 2009-2010.

Press

• River parkway exhibit features Valley’s people, Vida en el Valle, by Rebecca Plevin, February 16, 2011.
• Women Lead the Fight for Pesticide Reform in California’s Central Valley Ecosalon.org, by Vanessa Barrington, September 2, 2010.
• Sprayed, Stripped and Poisoned, One Town Fights Back… and Wins Change.org, by Ben Proffer, August 27, 2010.
• Photoblog: Women Sowing Change in the Central Valley Women’s Foundation of California Blog. August 20, 2010.
• “Women Leaders of the Central Valley Environmental Justice Movement,” Local Dirt, Producer Alida Cantor. KDVS-FM Davis, CA. June 3, 2008.