Working together to build healthy communities in California
EHSC’s Community Advisory Committee (CAC) brings together community-based organizations, public agencies, and academic researchers to collaborate on the design and implementation of environmental health science research at UC Davis. CAC members provide valuable connections to the experiences and perspectives of the communities where environmental health research is most relevant.
The overarching purpose of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is to ensure that EHSC-supported research is:
- Responsive to the needs and priorities of those most impacted by environmental health issues in California
- Policy-relevant and accessible to community stakeholders, advocates, and government actors
- Leads to meaningful changes in exposures and health outcomes in vulnerable communities
Current CAC Members
Community-Based Organizations
Californians for Pesticide Reform
Jane Sellen
Jane Sellen is the director of development and communications at Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR).
CPR is a statewide coalition of over 185 organizations. Its mission is to protect public health, improve the environment and support a sustainable agricultural system by building a movement across California to change pesticide policy and practice.
CPR supports safe, ecologically sound and socially just forms of pest management, as well as the expansion and protection of the public’s right to be aware of pesticide use, exposure and impact on the environment and communities.
Central California Asthma Collaborative
Kevin Hamilton
Kevin Hamilton is the chief executive officer at the Central California Asthma Collaborative (CCAC) where he’s focused on reducing the burden of chronic respiratory disease and environmental health impacts valley-wide.
CCAC works in the San Joaquin Valley to advance knowledge around asthma, create a healthy home, outdoor and school environments and promote access to quality health care.
Tim Tyner
Tim Tyner is the Co-Founder, Co-Executive Director and Director at Central California Asthma Collaborative.
Tim joined the CCAC staff in 2018 and has secured since then more than two dozen grants totaling more than $6M. He has overseen the implementation of multiple environmental equity programs to support disadvantaged communities across the San Joaquin Valley.
Sarah Sharpe
Sarah Sharpe returned to the CCAC team in 2023 as the Deputy Executive Director after serving in executive roles at US EPA Region 9 and the California Public Utilities Commission for the previous 6 years. She joins the executive team leading administrative and program efforts focused on climate equity and environmental policy advocacy and implementation. She previously led various environmental health and justice programs in the San Joaquin Valley region, including a previous period as CCAC’s Associate Director in 2017.
Central California Environmental Justice Network
Nayamin Martinez
Nayamin Martinez is the director of the Central California Environmental Justice Network.
CCEJN seeks to preserve our natural resources now and in the future by seeking better ways to minimize environmental degradation in Central Valley communities. This is crucial because rural communities in California’s Central Valley suffer a disproportionate amount of negative health, social and financial impacts.
Community Water Center
Ryan Jensen
Ryan Jensen is the community water solutions manager at the Community Water Center (CWC) where he supports organizing and training around environmental justice campaigns focused on drinking water issues. Jensen helps to develop leadership in disadvantaged communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
CWC develops water solutions through community organizing, education and advocacy in California’s San Joaquin Valley. CWC ensures people have access to safe, clean and affordable water by giving rural and low-income communities a voice.
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Phoebe Seaton
Phoebe Seaton is an attorney and co-founder and co-director of the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability (LCJA). A veteran of policy issues related to water and land use, Seaton brings attention to low-income, unincorporated communities in California to help them address critical infrastructure and service deficits.
LCJA improves the future of at-risk communities in California through organizing, research, legal representation and policy work.
Seaton is co-chair of the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee.
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Esperanza Vielma
Esperanza Vielma is executive director of the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (EJCW). Her work is rooted in serving underrepresented and disadvantaged communities in the San Joaquin Valley where she also experienced the inequities and injustices faced by those living in low-income communities of color. From a young age, she knew she wanted to be an advocate for her community, to help people access information and programs that could improve the quality of their lives.
At EJCW, Vielma has recruited community leaders to participate in an Integrated Regional Water Management Task Force and provided education to residents and activists through community water meetings and a Water Justice Leadership Training Series. She's also chaired the Environmental Justice Advisory Group for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, and now is on the steering committee of Valley Air’s AB 617 program in Stockton, California.
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
Miguel Alatorre
Miguel Alatorre is a community organizer and policy advocate for Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice. Miguel is a third-generation environmental activist who has been involved in numerous battles against pollution and injustice in the San Joaquin Valley farmworker town of Kettleman City, California, where he's lived all his life.
Miguel is Greenaction’s lead organizer on campaigns to bring clean drinking water to Kettleman City, reduce diesel truck emissions in his town, reduce pesticide drift from agricultural fields near homes and oppose new permits for the hazardous waste and PCB landfill in Kettleman City—the largest such facility in the Western US.
Miguel also helped found and mentor two Kettleman City youth groups KPOP (Kids Protecting our Planet) and YPOP (Youth Protecting our Planet) and is currently leading the Kettleman City Youth Environmental Justice Leadership Academy program.
Maricela Mares-Alatorre
Maricela Mares-Alatorre is a community organizer and policy advocate at Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice. She coordinates El Pueblo Para el Aire y Agua Limpia (People for Clean Air and Water) in Kettleman City, California, which is home to the largest hazardous waste landfill in the western United States.
Public Agency Representatives
California Department of Public Health
Dan Woo
Dan Woo is a specialist in the Climate Change and Health Equity Program at the California Department of Public Health. Woo has a background in environmental policy analysis, city and regional planning and community development. He also belongs to the Coalition of Concerned Medical Professionals, which advocates for comprehensive medical care for low-income workers.
California Department of Pesticide Regulation
Celia Pazos
Celia Pazos recently joined the CA Department of Pesticide Regulation as Assistant Director for Environmental Justice and Equity, bringing 10 years of experience working on projects that prioritize environmental justice and racial equity, including previously at the California State Water Resources Control Board.
California Air Resources Board
Trish Johnson
Trish Johnson works for the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) Executive Office for Environmental Justice. She's currently implementing the AB 617 Community Air Protection Program and is staff liaison for the AB 32 Environmental Justice Advisory Committee. During her tenure at CARB, she's worked across several programs and led multiple rulemakings to adopt or amend regulations.
Amy Budahn
Amy Budahn works for the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) Climate Investment Benefits Section. She was formerly a Senior Environmental Scientist with both California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) (2018-2023) and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) (2015-2018).
Individual Members
Jaymin Kwon
Jaymin Kwon is an associate professor of environmental health at California State University-Fresno with a background in human exposure sciences. Using statistical models, Dr. Kwon researches the impact air pollution has on health.
Marilyn Silva
Marilyn Silva is a retired toxicologist who spent her career working for the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) at the California Environmental Protection Agency.