San Diego, California, United States
Hi! 👋🏽🌱 I'm Bella Santos (she/her), a student at UC Berkeley working toward a B.S. in Environmental Studies with minors in Public Policy and Ethnic Studies. My work sits at the intersection of environmental justice, climate policy, and education, with a focus on building toward resilient, community-led change. As an elected ASUC Senator representing the eco-community, I lead Berkeley's Eco Office, directing 60+ student organizers across campaigns focused on clean energy, fossil-fuel divestment, climate literacy, zero waste, and sustainable food systems. I'm currently working to institutionalize EJ education on campus, developing trainings, strengthening coalitions across Berkeley's 70+ environmental orgs, and advancing a student-led Green New Deal. I work in UC Berkeley's Housing & Dining Sustainability Office on campus conservation and decarbonization projects in our residential facilities. I also serve on the board of Ten Strands, which supports statewide K-12 climate justice curriculum development. I'm currently interning at NRDC on land and energy policy, and have previously interned at EDF and Greenpeace USA through the Yale Conservation Scholars Program. My organizing roots go back to high school, where I co-authored a resolution to divest from fossil fuels and advocate for introducing Ethnic Studies in my school district, experiences that showed me how policy, education, and community power work together. I’m passionate about building equitable, sustainable communities through policy and education. Feel free to reach out: bellasantos[at]berkeley.edu 🌎
Environmental justice and public policy non-profit. Focusing on research and advocacy for a just energy transition.
- Awarded ASUC Senator of the Year, nominated by fellow ASUC Officials for exemplary service and policymaking - Elected as Environmental Community Representative in the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) Senate to represent 32,000+ students, #3 Rank - Raised over $70k from grants and fundraising for clean energy infrastructure, Capitol Lobby Day, climate mental health peer support program, disaster relief in the Philippines - Direct a 60+ member Eco Office, Berkeley’s environmental policy and organizing hub, advancing campus-wide campaigns on clean energy, fossil fuel dissociation, climate literacy, and sustainable food and waste systems - Spearhead student-written Green New Deal Policy implementation with students, faculty, and administration - Serve on ASUC Finance Committee, Campus Advisory Committee on Sustainability
Fossil Fuel Dissociation and Reject Rausser Team - Manage a team of 5 associates to advance environmental justice and fossil fuel dissociation campaigns - Built a coalition of students and faculty to push for policy changes to increase research funding transparency - Organize outreach events to raise awareness of ethical issues surrounding fossil fuel funding in academia - Hosted workshop on Environmental Justice History at Berkeley, integrating block printing art and artivism teaching
Critical Environmental Justice Lab under Dr. Michael Mascarenhas: - Conducting archival and scientific literature research on environmental stressors in West Oakland, community-based partnership, and school garden curriculum impacts on environmental justice and learning outcomes in historically marginalized communities; qualitative coding in MAXQDA - Supporting development of an environmental justice handbook through proposal coordination, contributor communications, timeline management, and editorial logistics - College of Natural Resources Summer 2026 Grant Recipient
Water Equity Science Shop (WESS) led by Dr. Rachel Morello-Frosch — working with Dr. Jenny Rempel to address water equity challenges and environmental justice through research to achieve the goals of CA’s Human Right to Water law. Created case studies documenting health and safety allocations after water shortage events in the San Joaquin Valley.
Bonnie Reiss Leading on Climate Student Fellow, serving as the sole undergraduate systemwide representative to the University of California's Global Climate Leadership Council (GCLC) and Sustainability Steering Committee (SSC)