People
Principal Investigator
Isabella B. Arzeno Soltero (she/ella)
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCLA, with an affiliation with UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI). I received my PhD in Physical Oceanography in June 2020 (yes, a Zoom defense because of the pandemic) from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Although my PhD research primarily focused on fundamental science, my involvement with communities throughout my PhD, particularly migrant communities, inspired me to shift toward applied topics, such as environmental and social justice.
Grounded in my expertise in hydrodynamics, as well as my passion for community engagement, my current research spans a wide array of topics related to community and coastal resilience. My current work encompasses a variety of topics related to understanding hydrodynamic issues and developing nature-based solutions to address them. I actively collaborate with scholars from various disciplines, particularly the humanities and social sciences, to achieve a holistic understanding of integrated socio-environmental systems. And I place a strong emphasis on working closely with local communities.
Since I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, I enjoy collaborating on issues that particularly affect the Latine community. When I’m not working, I can be found playing bomba or plena, dancing, or engaged in community activism. I identify as an eternal student of bomba and plena (2 separate genres of music) and resonate deeply with the community-building aspects of these traditions.
I’m eager to collaborate with scholars and communities in Puerto Rico. If anyone is interested in working together for the benefit of communities and the environment, please contact us.
Current PhD Students
Diego Centeno (he/él)
I am a PhD student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at UCLA. I earned a BA in geosciences at California State University San Bernardino in 2023 and worked as a research assistant at Brown University from 2023-2024. I’m currently investigating hydrodynamic–biogeochemical processes in the Salton Sea, informed by my experience growing up in the surrounding community. When not doing science, I like to be outdoors or play guitar.
Carmen Fregoso (she/ella)
I am a Ph.D. student in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCLA, where I work under the guidance of Dr. Isabella B. Arzeno-Soltero and Dr. Alberto Casillas-Trasviña. I earned my B.S. in Civil Engineering from California State University, Northridge and my M.S. in Civil Engineering from UCLA, where my thesis examined chromium (VI) contamination in residential soils following the Los Angeles wildfires.
My current research examines how climate change and water-allocation policies influence water resources in California. By comparing groundwater depletion in the Mojave Desert with surface-water decline in the Salton Sea, I seek to better understand how different hydrologic systems respond to shared climate and policy stressors and contribute to more water-management strategies.
In the long term, I aspire to pursue a career in research and higher education, where I can advance sustainable water-resource solutions while mentoring and supporting the next generation of women in engineering.
Eber Reyes Lopez (he/él)
I hold an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Riverside. My current research brings together coastal fieldwork, oceanographic data analysis, and quantitative modeling to examine how oceanographic conditions influence giant kelp forest dynamics. This includes developing statistical models to evaluate and predict changes in kelp biomass, as well as conducting fluorescent dye-release experiments to investigate transport and mixing at coastal sites. By combining field observations with computational methods, I seek to advance understanding of the physical processes that influence giant kelp forest environments.
Current Undergraduate Students
Kennedy Campanella (she/ella)
I am an undergraduate transfer student from College of the Desert majoring in Civil Engineering with a focus on Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. I’m passionate about environmental remediation in low-income and marginalized communities, and I’m committed to cultivating sustainability for future generations. My research experience includes projects in lake dynamics, data analysis, and nitrogen cycling in soil.
Jocelyn Escarcega (she/ella)
I am an undergraduate student majoring in Civil Engineering. As part of my work on the Salton Sea project, I have been learning Python to analyze and visualize data by creating graphs that explore the relationships between the smells people report, their mood, and the symptoms they experience. I also work with participant data by transferring information from multiple calendars into a structured dataset, including symptoms, mood, location, the time and duration of odor events, the type of smell reported, and whether the odor caused participants to change their plans. Through this experience, I have developed skills in programming, data management, and environmental data analysis while contributing to research on how odors affect surrounding communities.
Former Lab Affiliates
Cruz Márquez (Received Masters in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UCLA in 2025)
Ariana Valdovinos (Current College of the Desert student)
Francisco Orozco Rocha (Currently an undergraduate student at UC Riverside)
Andy Macapagal (Currently an undergraduate student at UCLA)
Laura Kubiatko (Currently a PhD student at Stanford University)
Migdalia Sánchez (Received BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley in 2025)
Consuelo Márquez