Judi Eppele and Christian Black have been selected to participate in the 2024-2025 UC Bonnie Reiss Climate Action Fellowship Program, focusing on sustainable agriculture and food for UC ANR.

Eppele is a community development graduate student at UC Davis focusing on environmental education, STEAM, science communication and citizen/community science.

As a Reiss Fellow, she will work with Strategic Communications on communications campaigns to promote sustainable agriculture and food practices, writing blog posts, creating infographics, and contributing to social media campaigns.

“I am excited to connect the public with what is going on in the world of sustainable agriculture in order to help break the barrier between academia and the public,” she said. Eppele hopes to increase awareness of sustainable agricultural practices, helping California make greater progress towards mitigating climate change impacts.

“I am incredibly grateful to be a part of this fellowship and looks forward to the future of sustainable agriculture where there is a clear commitment to widespread education and community involvement,” Eppele added.

Black, another Reiss Fellow, is a public health graduate student at UC Irvine Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health focusing on community health, specifically by studying the relationship between harsh prison environments and health longevity using salivary biomarkers and wearable devices.

Black will work closely with the Nutrition Policy Institute's Farm to Corrections team. For his project, he will focus on food insecurity and access to sustainable food options for formerly incarcerated individuals in California as well as delving into the barriers that community-based organizations typically face around the issues of providing food assistance, alleviating food insecurity and encouraging sustainable consumption.

“It is pivotal that researchers have a clear understanding of how theories–specifically around these issues–influence policy and how they are implemented into practice, as it allows us to refine policies and better support our citizens,” Black said. “I am honored to be a part of a fellowship that emphasizes sustainable food options for marginalized populations as it is incredibly impactful though rare to find work.”

Black hopes that one day efforts like his will bring awareness for more sustainable food options, and that in doing so there will be new developments and initiatives recognized and supported on the federal level.

The UC President's Bonnie Reiss Climate Action Fellowship Program funds student-generated projects that support the UC system's climate action goals. It encompasses the former UC Global Food Initiative and Carbon Neutrality Initiative. All 10 UC campuses, five academic health centers, plus the UC Office of the President, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory participate in the program.

The program, which began in spring 2015, is open to both undergraduate and graduate students, and administered at each location to ensure that student efforts align with local needs.