TERA
Welcome to the Transdisciplinary Environmental Researchers Alliance
About TERA
Of all the various issues that face us, environmental issues are the very crux of complex, adaptive issues that demand transdisciplinary and multi-level responses. The Transdisciplinary Environmental Researchers Alliance intends to create a workspace for all those who wish to collaborate to expand their research, network, and understanding of environmental issues with the ultimate intent of facilitating action.
Our Motivating Principles
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Connect
A key goal is to foster a workspace where researchers with similar interests can find each other and build community. To that end, we will create both formal and informal opportunities for students and faculty at the Claremont Colleges and beyond to network.
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Collaborate
At TERA we believe that solutions to complex problems come from collaboration between researchers from different disciplines and community partners. Research conducted with and by those actively working to improve their communities and with frontline experiences will help us produce more effective policies and initiatives. We aim to create a generation of participatory action researchers
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Contribute
We aim to contribute to both the academic and activist spaces through the production of high-quality original research using a variety of mixed-methods and participatory approaches that supports collective action. To achieve this goal, our programming will include panels, convenings, and workshops on new research methods and topics. Additionally, our projects provide students hands-on opportunities to develop skills in survey and interviews design and implementation, field work, data analysis, and writing publicly available memos, resources, and presentations.
Meet the Organizing Team
Heather
Campbell
Heather E. Campbell has a PhD in Public Policy Analysis, and has been teaching at Claremont Graduate University for 15 years. One of her CGU courses is a transdisciplinary course on cities. Her primary focus is Urban Environmental Policy Analysis, with a an especial focus on urban Environmental (In)Justice, and she’s published quite a few articles and 3 books on these topics. Heather has worked with the Arizona Department of Water Resources, the Arizona Water Institute, the Morrison Institute for Public Policy, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Heather has also supervised dissertations on topics such as green space in Pomona, watershed management in the southwestern Colorado River basin, solar and wind energy, and plastic-bag bans. Her research methods include quantitative-statistical, computational, and qualitative. In addition to water, energy, and green space, she has studied brownfields, air pollution, noise pollution, workplace pollution, and green gentrification.
Jessica
Geiger
Jessica Geiger is a PhD Candidate in political science. She is interested in public opinion, political behavior, political psychology, and environmental justice. Her work primarily focuses on how the interaction between identities and contextual factors can shape political behaviors and attitudes toward climate change, adaptation and mitigation policies, and broader environmental policies. She has also worked on projects that explore the placement of warehouses in communities of color, the extent of disproportionate disaster displacement among LGBTQIA+ individuals, and the impacts on voting behaviors as a result of disaster experiences.
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Daniel
Talamantes
Daniel Talamantes is a PhD candidate in Cultural Studies at Claremont Graduate University. He focusses on social and environmental justice, with a particular emphasis on toxics and multispecies analysis. He currently works with several nonprofit and grassroots groups in East San Gabriel Valley including the Clean Air Coalition of North Whittier and Avocado Heights, Avocado Heights Vaquer@s, East San Gabriel Valley Environmental Health Consortium, and Operation Health Hearts. He also works with statewide groups EarthJustice and Reform DTSC. His research is informed by community-led projects which include soil, air, and water sampling, conducting groundtruthing studies, conducting archival research, collecting oral histories, speaking with state assembly members, and much more.
TERA Sponsors
"Transdisciplinary Studies at CGU is a proud sponsor of TERA as a critical space for Transdisciplinary Environmental Justice research that contributes to positive social impact and futures. We see TERA as living and leading a transdisciplinary mission for boundary crossing opportunities in research and practice between disciplines and with communities beyond academia."
Shamini Dias
Director of Transdisciplinary Studies
Shamini Dias
Shamini Dias has a PhD in Education and is a teaching artist and imagination advocate. She directs the Transdisciplinary Studies program at Claremont Graduate University. Prior to that, she developed and directed CGU’s Preparing Future Faculty program based on transdisciplinary pedagogy principles for equity and flourishing in learning. Shamini focuses on Pedagogy, Semiotics and Complexity analysis. She has a passion for boundary crossing in addressing complex issues, especially in integrating the arts and humanities with science and social sciences in community engagement.
Director of Transdisciplinary Studies