PROJECT: A citizen scientist training program in Watts to transform members of the community into “environmental agents of change.” 

Monika Shankar is a PhD student in Environmental Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her graduate and professional work is situated at the intersection of environmental health and justice, and urban planning, with a particular emphasis on advancing research and developing policy strategies to address the presence of stationary sources of pollution in vulnerable communities.

In Los Angeles, the challenge of incompatible land uses — the siting of hazardous uses of land near sensitive populations — primarily impacts the region’s low-income communities and communities of color.

Shankar is committed to working with these communities, alongside advocates and policymakers, to identify viable environmental and land use based strategies to mitigate harm to human health and the environment. Her approach is interdisciplinary and rooted in community co-powerment and multi-stakeholder engagement.

Shankar has served on the steering committee of ClimatePlan, the Alliance for Community Transit-LA, and the Jordan Downs Environmental Justice Coalition. She is a Switzer Fellow, a candidate for the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award, a Luskin Center for Innovation Field Fellow for Environmental Justice, a Reach the Decision Makers Fellow, and a Julie Roque Fellow.