UEPI’s faculty and professional staff represent fields of environmental and public health, housing, urban planning, law, public policy, non-profit management, and more.
Staff work closely with the professors in the UEP academic department, and also collaborate with other college departments including the Center for Community Based Learning and Student Leadership, Involvement and Community Engagement. Staff are housed at two different locations on campus, 1541 and 1882 Campus Road.
Sharon Cech is a Program Director at the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College (UEPI). For over a decade, her work has focused on achieving more equitable, sustainable, and nourishing local food systems in the Los Angeles region through project work in urban agriculture...
Peter Dreier has been involved in urban policy as a scholar, government official, reporter, and advocate for over 30 years. He writes widely on American politics and public policy, specializing in urban politics and policy, housing policy, community development, and community organizing. He is also...
Raquel Galarza is the Health Education Manager for the LA Farm to School Initiative at UEPI. Her work focuses leading nutrition education initiatives in local community sites, as well as empowering community members to make changes towards healthy, active lifestyles. In her previous position at...
Robert Gottlieb’s research focus is on environmental and food justice, power and inequality, resource politics, alternative transportation, place-based development, global cities, and the infrastructure of everyday life. He is the author of numerous publications, including fourteen books. A few of...
Martha Matsuoka ’83 is the Executive Director of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute and a Professor at Occidental College. She focuses her teaching and research on environmental justice, community-based regionalism, sustainable community development, and social movements. Her current...
Siana Park-Pearson ’24 (she/her) is the Farm to Classroom Project Coordinator at the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI) at Occidental College. Combining her Media Arts and Culture degree with her interest in food studies, Siana worked as the UEPI student intern and web assistant for her...
Seva Rodnyansky’s research focuses on urban policy related to housing, transportation, residential mobility and neighborhood change. His teaching interests include quantitative data analysis, urban policy and planning, housing policy, and transportation planning. Seva's current research looks at the...
Rosa Romero is a Program Director at the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI) at Occidental College. Rosa specializes in Farm to Preschool, Garden and Health curriculum development and teacher training. She is currently leading UEPI’s community-based EscWELLa initiative to enrich the...
1882 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA 90041
1541 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA 90041