Karina Ramos Villalobos is a community activist, journalist, and artist. She has been a guest on Wiyot land since 2019 when she began attending Cal Poly Humboldt to achieve a B.A. degree in journalism. With passion and determination, Ramos Villalobos has worked with El Leñador for four semesters producing a wide variety of life, arts, and entertainment stories among news articles. Ramos Villalobos is a leader and advocates for BIPOC communities. When she isn’t leading in the classrooms she is organizing spaces for BIPOC and Queer artists through a space she created called Humboldt Homies. Ramos Villalobos’s goals are to grow her skills in producing a wide range of storytelling through multimedia projects and one day have her own form of magazine or news outlet for better and more representation of the BIPOC community.
My name is Griselda Valdez. I am a first-generation student at Cal-Poly Humboldt. I am getting my degree in Environmental Science and Management with a concentration in Education and Interpretation, as well as pursuing a minor in Parks Administration. This summer, I am working with EcoNews as an archiving intern. I am excited to learn and grow. I love living in Humboldt and enjoy taking nature walks, biking, and baking and recently started looking for agates.
My name is Gerardo Arturo Hernandez, currently I am a sophomore student seeking a Political Science major at Cal Poly Humboldt. I was raised in the City of Cudahy in Southern California, I come from a working class family and I am a first generation undergraduate student attending a four year university. I have been fortunate enough in seeking opportunities such as publishing Los Angeles based news as a summer intern for the L.A. Times and I was a student writer for Cal Poly Humboldt’s bilingual English & Spanish newspaper El Leñador.
In the upcoming 2022-2023 academic year I will be involved as At-Large Representative for the Associated Students (A.S.) of Cal Poly Humboldt. A.S. is a student body government organization that continuously seeks institutional changes that can enhance the student environment. For my career goals, I have high aspirations to become involved within the political spectrum of government and serve one day as a public elected official for underrepresented communities because I care deeply on giving them a voice in the policymaking process.
Claudia Alfaro Hernandez is an Environmental Science & Management major at Cal Poly Humboldt, with an emphasis on Ecological Restoration. She moved to Humboldt County in 2020 from her hometown of Jurupa Valley, California in hopes of fully integrating herself within the Natural Resources community. Within her time in Humboldt County, Claudia has worked alongside organizations, such as Ciencia Para Todos & El Leñador, to find, educate, and empower the Latinx community. Her academic and community experiences have led to her self-advocacy for supplemental support services for low income & first-generation academic students.
Claudia’s interest in environmental conservation came into play once she conducted research on the Joshua Trees of the Mojave Desert in 2018. Since then, Claudia has been more conscious of her impact on the natural environment. She integrates such thinking whenever she steps foot in any natural space, whether in academics or recreation. Claudia hopes to dedicate her academic career to the preservation and management of Natural Resources in population-dense areas, as means to combat various environmental issues.
Claudia looks forward to being a part of the NEC team & contributing to an important Humboldt Environmental organization.