2021 Board

EPSILON ETA’S BOARD IS ELECTED EACH NOVEMBER AND SERVES FOR ONE CALENDAR YEAR.

President

Valerie is a third year studying Global Environmental Politics and French. She’s interested in Political Ecology and gets fired up about kicking moneyed interests out of American politics. She has passed her days in quarantine by learning how to sew, reading Elena Ferrante, and finding bodies of water to swim in.

VP of Service

Gabriela Jeliazkov and is originally from Washington, DC. She is a sophomore majoring in Molecular Environmental Biology, with a minor in Conservation and Resource Studies. She also loves hiking and traveling!

VP of Professional Development

Varsha (she/her/hers) is a sophomore studying Data Science and Society and Environment. She is passionate about the environmental justice and intersectionality.

VP of Internal Development

Abilene is a second year planning to study Conservation & Resource Studies and Geospatial Information Science and Technology. She currently is interning with a nonprofit that brings energy-free rainwater collection and filtration systems to schools in Vietnam and Nepal. She plans to work on an organic farm this summer and continue to learn about agroecological practices and revitalizing local food systems. She enjoys cooking meals for loved ones, laying in the sun, wandering around museums, and embroidering.

VP of Outreach

Zoe Chan is currently a Junior at UC Berkeley majoring Environmental Science with a minor in Geospatial Information Systems Technology. Growing up camping and hiking in California, she developed a passion for the outdoors, fueling her desire to conserve ecosystems, develop climate change solutions, and address systemic environmental justice issues. As a student mentor with OASES, store volunteer with UC Berkeley ReUse, and Conservation + Tech Fung Fellow, Zoe hopes to create tangible change with empathy and compassion.

VP of Finance

Uday is a Junior studying Applied Mathematics and Data Science with a concentration in Environmental Resources Management. Growing up in India, he always felt the need to do something about the environment. Having seen people arguing and fighting over religion, politics and geographical territory, he felt that our environment is one thing that unites us all. This is when he decided to combine his passion for numbers and the natural environment. He aims to work as an Environmental Data Scientist for AECOM. Apart from Epsilon Eta, he is also a part of Formula Electric at Berkeley, Big Data at Berkeley, Ecode, and PEACE at Berkeley. He is really into Climate Change, Arctic Monkeys, Sherlock and Tennis. Fun Fact: He’s seen The Office over seven times in the last two years!

General Members

Check out our super cool active members below!

**Madeleine Wong** – Madeleine is a third year pursuing simultaneous degrees in Business Administration at Haas and Environmental Economics and Policy at the College of Natural Resources. She currently serves on the Student Advisory Board at the Center for Responsible Business and is interested in learning if/how businesses can truly be sustainable in a capitalistic society by exploring system level change paired with individual action. She has been in Ep Eta since her first semester at Berkeley and can’t wait to see how our members are changing the world!

**Yooju Choi** – Yooju is a second year pursuing a double major in Society & Environment and Data Science. She is particularly interested in the intersection of environmental justice and community health. On campus, she is a part of the Environmental Justice Committee in the Pour Out Pepsi Team. In her free time, she loves to take walks, curate Spotify playlists, and sew clothes!!

**Layne Fajeau** – Layne is a second year studying Society & Environment and Legal Studies and member of the Epsilon Class of Ep Eta! He currently works in the ASUC Ecosenator’s office and marches for Cal Band! He likes to spend his free time gazing longingly at Brown’s Cafe, listening to the Lemonade Mouth soundtrack, and submitting assignments to his professors late and then degrading himself in front of them for half-credit.

**Klaus Bachhuber** – Klaus is a fourth-year student studying Political Economy with a concentration in globalization and the environment. He loves anything in the outdoors especially things in the water. When he’s not scuba diving, kayaking, shredding the gnar on the waves, or hitting a triple cork three-sixty on the slopes, he likes to read and play with preferably large dogs.

**Sofia Sotomayor** – Sofia Sotomayor is a senior pursuing simultaneous degrees Sustainable Environmental Design and Conservation and Resource Studies! Currently, she works at the Environmental Protection Agency, focusing on non-point source pollution and water quality monitoring in Tribal surface water bodies. In her free time, she enjoys painting, ceramics, cooking plant-based, and of course exploring the outdoors!

**Nonnie Coehlo** – Nonnie is a Geology major interested in interdisciplinary studies bringing in chem and bio. When she’s not looking at, mapping, or climbing rocks, she loves to cook, or find short-term projects to procrastinate on. Being an original member of Ep Eta, she has seen the group evolve and is excited about where it’s going!

**Holden Payne** – Holden is a 4th year studying Environmental Science and Forestry. He is extremely passionate about science and political literacy and brings that passion into the events he organizes for Ep Eta. When not working on service Holden spends much of his free time sailing, exercising or attempting to identify trees.

**Marley Pirochta** – Marley is a 4th year Conservation and Resource Studies major with a concentration in Sustainable Food Enterprises. She enjoys cooking, excessively tweeting, and wearing flip flops in all seasons.

**Moe Sumino** – Moe is a sophomore majoring in Conservation & Resource Studies—with an emphasis in Rural Agricultural Development—and minoring in Food Systems and GIS! She’s passionate about solving issues in our food systems, especially how those problems affect rural populations or food sovereignty. She researches soil health in the Agroecology Lab and works at the Berkeley Food Institute, where she helped to launch Berkeley Student Farms (@berkeleystudentfarms ) and currently manages the SOGA garden. She also serves on The Green Initiative Fund committee and is part of the Students of Color Environmental Collective!

**Kalani Alcala** – Kalani is a second year pursuing a double major in Society and the Environment and Public Health. In her free time she enjoys volunteering, crocheting, and paddle boarding.

**Laura McFarland** – Laura is a senior double majoring in Society and Environment and Global Studies, with concentrations in food systems and peace & conflict studies. Currently, she is very excited to be working on a research project analyzing climate adaptation on small family farms in Northern California and hopes to use this knowledge to someday take down industrialized agriculture. She has been in Epsilon Eta since her freshman year and has loved every person and opportunity this organization has brought her!

**Christopher Harrod** – Chris is a senior majoring in Molecular and Environmental Biology with a minor in Public Policy. He is currently an undergraduate research assistant for Hayes Lab in the department of Integrative Biology where he studies endocrine disruption in the African Clawed Frog. Outside of Epsilon Eta, Chris has played the Trombone for the Cal Band for the last 3 years where he also serves as the Public Relations Director. This semester, he will be a study director in a lab to investigate the estrogen sensitivity and resistance in various populations of frogs. After graduation, he hopes to pursue a career in Biotechnology, clinical research, or Environmental consulting.

**Star Beltman** – Star is a fourth year pursuing a double major in Society & Environment and Conservation & Resource Studies. She grew up in Boulder, Colorado and enjoys hiking, looking for newts, and daydreaming about taking down Big Oil.

**Teja Pattabhiraman** – Teja is a 4th year studying Public Health and Molecular & Cellular Biology with an emphasis in Neurobiology. She is interested in environmental health equity and collaborating with marginalized communities to inform equity-centered environmental policies moving forward. On campus, she does research on PFASs at the Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health (CERCH) and works as a program associate at the California Initiative for Health Equity and Action (Cal-IHEA). In her free time, she enjoys sketching, cooking with friends, and learning tiktok dances 😉

**Natalie Coy** – Natalie Coy is a senior majoring in Environmental Science and Conservation and Resource Studies with two emphases on marine biology and geospatial information science and technology. Natalie currently works with the US National Park Service to research aquatic invasive species, and with Dr. Bethanie Edwards (University of California, Berkeley) to study lipidomics in phytoplankton. Natalie spent her fall semester of 2019 at the University of Queensland, Australia where she was able to research the effects of thermal stress on holothurian species (sea cucumbers) and the behavior of territorial damselfish. Natalie is currently back at UC Berkeley working on her thesis which investigates how a first entry prescribed fire affects the spatial distribution of wildland fuels. Natalie has a passion for shark conservation, advocacy and education. She has been volunteering with Shark Stewards for the last two year and aims to work in shark conservation once she graduates.

Contact Us!

epsilonetaberkeley@gmail.com
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2021 Board

General Members

Contact Us!

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