Graduate Students

Dustin Adkins
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Basic needs of students in higher education; Food and housing policy; Higher education policy and management

Jordan Alcarez
Program: MCP
Areas of Interest: Hazardous Waste Management, Nuclear Waste Storage, Environmental Justice, Sustainable Cities, and Landscape Revitalization with an Emphasis on Invasive Species.

Nalia Arevalo
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Community Development, City Planning, Sustainability, Accessible Transportation, and Diversity and Equity in Public Education.

Jesus Antonio "Anthony" Baker
Program: MCP
Areas of Interest: Infrastructure and Transportation

Ollin Balderas Medina
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Human Resource Management, Nonprofit Management, Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Against Women of Color and Latinas, Social Justice

Troy Beveridge
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Use of Deadly Force and Police Relations

Ian Brazill
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Local/Municipal Government

Leslie Campos Salas
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Reform of the correctional system, gender-responsive prison reentry programs geared towards female offenders, working with at-risk youth towards prevention and reentry, nonprofit and advocacy work, working with victims of human trafficking, and restorative

Mario Carbajal
Program: MCP
Areas of Interest: Community design, urban forestry, environmental planning, and land use

Stacy Carota
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Higher education and healthcare leadership and policy, Nonprofit management

Kai-Hsin Chang
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Public Policy, Government and Foreign Policy

Chrislyn Chovanec
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Animal Welfare and Environmental Issues

Rosa Cordova
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Criminal Law, Investigation, Public Defense, Interrogations, Juvenile Justice, and more!

Silvia Croft
Program: MCP
Areas of Interest: Transportation and Urban Planning

Thomas DeFranco
Program: MCP
Areas of Interest: Affordable Housing Development, Local Zoning Policy

Rachel DeLong
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Reform, Public Policy and Restorative Practice

Dana Garcia
Program: MCP
Areas of Interest: Transit Equity; Smart Technologies; Economic Development; Sustainability

Cassandra Garcia
Program: MA/MPA in Latin American Studies and Public Administration
Areas of Interest: U.S.-Mexico border region; Political & education systems in border communities; Local Government

Megan Honey
Program: MCP
Areas of Interest: Sustainable transportation, smart growth, and climate adaptation

Abdul Ibrahim
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: "Policies of developing countries regarding displaced persons and infrastructure".

Mackenzie King
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Transformative justice, prison abolition, wrongful conviction, critical justice pedagogy, critical justice-related media studies, and criminal justice journalism

Christopher Lack
Program: MCP
Areas of Interest: Land use and transportation

Jazmin Luna
Program: MA/MPA in Latin American Studies and Public Administration
Areas of Interest: Gender based violence in Latin America, Indigenous people sovereignty, local government programs/development, Immigration aid and assistance

Taya Medina
Program: MCP
Areas of Interest: Affordable Housing and Public Schools Planning

Nayelli Mendoza
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Criminal Law, Politics, Social Justice, Public Defense, Juvenile Justice, Foreign Policy, and Mass incarceration

Karyme Mercado
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Human Resources Management, Diversity, Equity, Transportation, and U.S. - Mexico Border Region

Alexandra (Alex) Ximena Milla Goñi
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Prison & police abolition; Crime & justice-related media studies

Justine Murray
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Local Government, Land Use, Mobility and Transportation, Infrastructure, and LGBTQ+ Inclusive Policies

Klara Nissan
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Public policy, humane resources, and Government.

Yahayra Janette Noriega
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Human Resources

Ahtrziri Olivares Sarabia
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Juvenile delinquency, re-entry, and probation

Martha Ponce
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Juvenile justice, criminal law, community policing, social justice and more!

Janie Regier
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Social justice, local politics, hiking, baking and SD Padres baseball

Larissa Rodriguez
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Community policing, crime reporting among minorities, forensic behavioral sciences and more

Iris Rodriguez
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Public Policy, Civil Rights, Nonprofit Management, and Affordable Housing

Abigail Sosa
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Criminological research, analyzing data along with studying the criminal mind in hopes to understand individual's reasoning for committing crime.

Daniel Toscano
Program: MPA
Areas of Interest: Community Relations and Government Accountability

Kaelynn Toyama-Graham
Program: MCP
Areas of Interest: Natural resources planning, Climate adaptation, Smart technologies, Sustainable development, and Urban green spaces and equitable access to them

Angelina Trigueros
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Criminal Law, Investigation, Public Defense, Interrogations, Juvenile Justice, Forensics and More!

Julian Villanueva
Program: MCJC
Areas of Interest: Juvenile Justice, Mass Incarceration, Public Policy, Police Brutality, Effects of Social Media on the views and attitudes towards Higher Authority