Andy has been recognized for selflessly serving his fellow CRD peers for the past 2 years as a peer advisor and for being extensively involved in CRD program-related projects for CRD faculty, staff and students!
Andy Garcia is graduating this spring quarter with a degree in Community and Regional Development. During his time here he has selflessly served his peers while in the classroom and in the past two years as a peer major advisor. He has a played a vital role for the CRD program by organizing events, facilitating meetings, and managing administrative level procedures for the students, staff, and faculty. He has dedicated countless intentional hours in advocating for the CRD major and its undergraduates. His involvement in bridging connections and relationships among undergraduate students and professors has been essential in his dedication to the department.
George has been recognized for his extensive community & campus service and involvement!
George Villa a former CAL Firefighter became a social justice advocate for an organization in East Salinas called Motivating 
Individual leadership for Public Advancement. He is currently a part time employee for Center for Regional Change at UC Davis and a full time student majoring in Community and Regional Development. George is also the Director for Team Villa Boxing Gym, a non-profit boxing gym in East Salinas that is inclusive to all youth in the Salinas and regional area. Additionally, he is working inside Department of Juvenile Justice doing healing and trauma informed work with youth that are incarcerated. This includes a national collaboration with Restoring Promise, an initiative we co-lead with Vera Institute to radically transform the living and working conditions inside jails and prisons with an initial focus on young adults. In his free time George enjoys hiking, swimming, Crossfit, fitness coaching, and reading. He is also proud uncle of young rising professional star boxer Ruben Villa IV.
Featured story about George Villa's work with detained juveniles: Healing and Building Community Leaders Through Neighborhoods Owning Power, Action, and Leadership (NOPAL)
Enrica has been recognized for volunteering to create the CRD Major video!
Enrica Jiang graduated from the Community and Regional Development program in Spring 2018. She produced two short videos featuring alumni, students, and faculty of the CRD program. She hopes to combine her passions for videography and community development to introduce the undergraduate program to incoming and current students. Her videos address common issues and questions of CRD students, many of which she shared as a student.
Previously, Enrica has worked for the NYC Department of Environmental Protection and the Lassen County Transportation Commission, where she specialized in community engagement. She has also worked with the UC Davis Arboretum and Campus Planning and Environmental Stewardship to promote sustainable campaigns on campus. Enrica aspires to utilize her experiences in nonprofit enterprises, environmental sustainability, and public outreach, as well as her interest in digital communication strategies, to facilitate equitable, sustainable community-involved development in disenfranchised communities.
Emily has been selected for the student spotlight to recognize her for her outstanding work!
Emily Eddy is a Senior in the Human Development major and is hoping to attend medical school next year. Currently, she is a substitute teacher at the preschool on campus. She has learned a lot from her Human Development courses and has been able to see it be put into practice at the Child Development Center. Emily volunteer's in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the UC Davis Medical Center, and loves spending time with kids! Last summer, she flew to Harare, Zimbabwe after receiving the UC Global Health Institute Summer Fellowship and cofounded a nonprofit to benefit the hospital after leaving. While she was there, they installed 55 hand sanitizers throughout the hospital! "So many things I’ve learned in my time at Davis have benefited me in my endeavors, and there are so many professors, advisors, and friends who have helped lead me to success!" -Emily Ariella, Grace & Selena have been selected for the student spotlight to recognize them for their outstanding initiative to present their research projects for the CRD Program Review Committee. We truly appreciate their hard work & involvement in the major!
Ariella Safanson is a senior in the CRD department! When she first came to UC Davis, she was a biological sciences major and very interested in public health. As she took more and more classes she soon realized that public health is deeply intertwined with inequality, access to resources, and many factors that are outside the realm of understanding the Mitochondria (which is the powerhouse of the cell). On her quest to find a major that would allow her to study public health holistically she came across CRD and loved it! Ariella soon became focused on public policy and law to use as tools to ensure everyone has their basic human rights respected, including being healthy. Throughout her time at Davis, she had the opportunity to intern and work at many wonderful places that further reaffirmed the need for policy changes, and how hard it is to work within broken laws.
Grace Kumetat is a fourth year CRD major with a focus on policy and planning. Currently she's conducting research for her undergraduate thesis which focuses on the emergence of microfinance in the United States. She hope to go on to work in the field of planning, or pursue a PhD program. When she's not studying she likes to cook, read and spend time with her adorable dog, Neptune.
Selena Silva is a a third year in the CRD program. 
She was raised in the Central Valley of California where resources and jobs are often scarce. As a CRD major, she's working towards gaining the skills to assist the community she grew up in. She's hoping to pursue a position in local government or local education to bring more attention, and hopefully solutions, to the issues surrounding my community and others like it. In order to experience potential career options and interests, she has completed two off campus internships. Her first was serving as an aide at a local elementary school. She's interested in the strengths and weaknesses of our education system. She's also interested in solving these issues through public policy. She served as an legislative intern at the California State Capital. This provided her with hands on experience researching bills and corresponding with constituents.
At Davis, she has been active as a research assistance and has presented research posters at the ASPIRE Research Symposium and the Undergraduate Research Conference. She's currently performing research and authoring a paper beneath Dr. Martin Kenney discussing algorithms, digital platforms, and discrimination. Looking ahead to her final year, her research interests include how technology shapes society and how it can be harnessed to provide more opportunities for disadvantaged groups. Selena is extremely thankful for the flexibility and opportunities to explore all of my different interests within the CRD program.
Jose Flores has been selected to be our next Student Spotlight to recognize him for his outstanding work as a Peer Advisor and going above and beyond for the CRD major and students. Jose has demonstrated excellent leadership and has proven to be a true professional, hardworking, dependable and kind person who is well respected by his peers.
Jose Flores is currently serving on the Environmental Policy and Planning Commission under ASUCD, where he hopes to build a relationship with the office of Campus Planning and Environmental Stewardship to create active dialogue with the student population on plans for the campus, and create internships for students to learn how planning process works. He is committing time to interning with 3 Revolutions over in the Institute of Transportation Studies, which aims to build strong capabilities in research and policy outreach regarding Automation, Electrification, and Car Sharing. He's also a research assistant for Professor Anne Visser working on Water Management Policy Preferences in Tulare Basin Area and “Disconnected Youth” in Rural Areas. Additionally, he's researching under Professor Catherine Brinkley on understanding if optional “Elements” in a city/county’s General Plan actually improves that facet of life. Example being, If city/county dedicates time to addressing what they are doing in regards to Agriculture, what does that provide/is it beneficial?Jose aims to combine these different roles into becoming a City Planner of sorts that seeks to strongly engage the community in finding the most sustainable options for a city while meeting the needs of underserved communities of color. Coming from the Central Valley Jose hopes to be working in areas with an underlying rural character. While planning is typically focused on implementation, he hopes to use it as a way to educate and engage those who may not be aware of social disparities.
Mariloli Barcena-Martinez has been selected to be our first Student Spotlight to recognize her for her outstanding initiative in helping us develop a more user friendly website!
Mariloli Barcena-Martinez is an undergraduate student who aspires to be an Occupational Therapist. She is hard at work in cementing the appropriate stepping stones to a fulfilling future. As a Human Development major, she has learned about the intricate play of environmental and biological factors in the atypical development of a person. Mariloli’s goal is to use her acquired knowledge in Human Development as well as the skills she gains volunteering to serve individuals in the community who are faced with disadvantages in their lives. She has slowly started working towards this goal by joining programs like Best Buddies where she hopes to improve the social life of young adults with disabilities and by her volunteer work at the UC Davis Medical Center where she has comforted acutely and chronically ill children. She hopes this is only the wellspring of a longer list to come, the epitome of the list-- becoming an Occupational Therapist. Most of her extracurricular activities mirror her passions: her major and her career. Mariloli wants to continue to grow as a person by adding hobbies and experiences that are distinct from her life’s pursuit. Indeed, this biography would have not been possible had she not taken an interest in the Human Ecology website and its organization. With that being said, she wants to thank the administration in the Human Ecology department who nominated her as the first student spotlight. Lastly, Mariloli also would like to thank those of you who took the time to read the biography.