Mentorship Program

Mentee JUANITA BALLESTEROS comes from a multidisciplinary background, having recently graduated with a Master of City Planning and Master of Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley, with prior training as an architect from her undergraduate education at MIT. She is interested in the intersections of planning and design within urban spaces, pulling from multiple lenses to…

Mentee Sam Horowitz is an MEM candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. He was born and raised in NYC, where his experience with Superstorm Sandy sparked a passion for climate adaptation and resilience. He has advised the DNC Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis, written policy for a 2020 presidential campaign, and…

Mentee Kristin Kelleher was impelled to enter the environmental field by watching the impact of sea-level rise on her hometown, and further developed her commitment to environmental policy while working as a legislative aide in the Massachusetts State House. After the intense storms of the winter of 2018, Kristin led the Massachusetts Businesses Acting on…

Mentee Sara Papanikolaou is a graduate student in the Climate and Energy Policy program at Johns Hopkins University, where she is completing her Masters thesis examining applications for renewable energy within the adaptation space.  She is the Washington Campaign Organizer for Oceana, and also runs a local 350.org chapter, 350 Eastside, near Seattle, where she…

Mentee Jessica Robbins is an environmental planner based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to joining her current workplace, Jessica worked with a wide variety of environmental organizations tackling such topics as science education, environmental decision-making and behavior, and energy efficiency evaluation. Jessica obtained her Master’s degree from University of Michigan, where she conducted…

Mentee Kira Rib is a graduate student at the University of Michigan, pursuing her MPH in Environmental Health Promotion and Policy. Her experience in sustainable agriculture and food justice across the country helped her to develop a passion for the impact of climate change on the resilience of food systems. Critically examining the intersection of…

Mentee Isaac A. Gendler is a Climate Adaptation and Housing Policy Researcher as well as a White Paper Writer for Abundant Housing LA. He is currently working on a research paper analyzing the effects of the Bay Area housing crisis on regional wildfire vulnerability. In his spare time, Isaac likes to write on his daily…

Mentee Joanna Parkman is a Master of Environmental Management student at Duke University, where she studies coastal resilience and nature-based solutions to sea level rise. She’s also pursuing a Natural Hazards Resilience Certificate at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Department of City and Regional Planning. This summer, Joanna is working as a Coastal Resilience…

Mentee Caroline Resor is a Strategy Associate for the American Flood Coalition in Washington, DC. Prior to AFC, Caroline worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on a machine learning flood model for Ellicott City. Previously, she was a Senior Analyst with sustainable infrastructure investor Hannon Armstrong. She worked with wind and solar energy companies…