Jonathan K. London

Jonathan K. London is the Director of the Center for Regional Change and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human and Community Development. Jonathan conducts research on rural community development and environmental justice. He has extensive leadership experience in non-profit management, participatory research, and community engagement. He holds a Masters of City and Regional Planning and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from UC Berkeley.

Starla Speich

Starla Speich is the CRC’s first Administrator, handling all operational systems for the Center.  Before becoming a member of the Center she spent several years in sales and marketing for a national bedding manufacturer. Starla is active in event planning for her children's school and sports organizations and counts wife and mother as her favorites of her many positions over the years. She holds an A.S. degree in biotechnology and general science and is pursuing her B.S. in Biological Science.

G. David Miller

David Miller is a visiting professor working with the Center for Regional Change through the Department of Human and Community Development.  For more information about him and his work, please visit his biography page.

Anne-Marie Flynn

Anne-Marie Flynn is the Program Coordinator for the CRC's Healthy Youth/Healthy Regions project.  Anne-Marie was born and raised in Northern California and has lived, worked and traveled in many countries including India, Bolivia, Ecuador and El Salvador.  Prior to working for the Center for Regional Change she spent more than fifteen years working in the non-profit world and is an expert in participatory training, facilitation, and program management.  Anne-Marie has a BA in Sociology and Ethnic Studies from UCLA and a Masters Degree from UC Davis in International Agricultural Development.

Michael Fitzgerald

Michael Fitzgerald is the Healthy Youth/ Healthy Regions Informatics Coordinator.   Mike has degrees in Sociology and Psychology from UC Davis and his interests include data management and applied research.  Prior to coming to the Center, he spent 15 years primarily in the public sector providing database design, research, and analytical support in areas from public health preparedness to social services.  For the past 2 years he worked as a researcher  at CSU Sacramento in the Applied Research Center. Mike volunteers, is on the Board of Directors for a local community service organization working with low income and at risk populations, and is an avid fan of soccer and the San Francisco Giants.

Ganlin Huang

Ganlin Huang is a postdoctoral scholar and the mapping lab coordinator of the Center for Regional Change. She received her Ph.D. in Natural Resources from University of Vermont. Her research focuses on community participation, resource management and environmental justice. She uses both qualitative (case study) and quantitative (statistics, GIS, and spatial analysis) research methods.

Gideon Mazinga

Gideon Mazinga is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Center for Regional Change. He is conducting research on the Health Youth /Health Region program particularly in the geo-spatial and quantitative analysis.  He holds Ph.D. in Social Policy and Social Research from Loma Linda University, Master of Science in Administration in International Community Development from Andrews University, Postgraduate certificate in Health Care Finance from
Boston University, Postgraduate certificate in Health Geo-informatics from Loma Linda University, and BBA from Andrews University.  Prior to joining the Center for Regional Change, Gideon worked with Loma Linda University in the Health Geo-informatics unit and in the Office of Institutional Research & Planning.  He also taught some Statistics and Research Methods courses on part time basis in the graduate school of Social Work and Social Ecology.

Rebeca Burciaga

Rebeca Burciaga is a Postdoctoral Scholar with the Healthy Youth/Healthy Regions Project. She is currently conducting HYHR ethnographic case studies of youth from throughout the Sacramento Region who have dropped out, been pushed out, or are considered not finishing high school. Dr. Burciaga’s research with community cultural wealth and educación (a Latina/o concept that includes respect, integrity and reciprocity), conceptualizes these frameworks/value systems as resources for the educational persistence of Chicana/o and Latina/o students at various stages of the pipeline - from preschool through the professoriate. Rebeca's work is informed by critical feminist, critical race and other sociological theories. Through the method of testimonio, her research examines how educación  is practiced, articulated, and cultivated in communities, schools and homes. Rebeca has a Ph.D. in Education from UCLA, an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a B.A. in Latin American and Latino Studies from UC Santa Cruz. An NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Santa Cruz in Psychology from 2007-2009, Rebeca will begin a tenure–track position at San José State University in Educational Leadership in the fall of 2010.

Katherine Valenzuela

Katie Valenzuela is a second year Community Development graduate student. She edits the website, contributes and maintains the Center's blog, runs all communications for the Center and helps with other projects as needed.  Born and raised in Bakersfield, California, she has extensive experience with non-profit activities in Kern County.  Katie recently received her B.S. in Community and Regional Development, and looks to eventually earn a PhD in Sociology.  Her main interests are group dynamics, race and ethnicity, social solidarities, regional nonprofit collaboratives, and epistemological knowledge.

Marian Parsons

Marian Parsons, a native Californian, is a second year graduate student in Community Development.  She works for the Center in collaboration with the Davis Humanities Institute on the Art of Regional Change.  Marian has a bachelor's degree in Spanish literature from the University of Oregon, and has spent the years since working with rural Oregon farm workers and as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua.  Recently, she facilitated community development and service-learning programs with the University of Oregon and Portland State University while completing a program in nonprofit management.  Her research interests include social change, natural and cultural resource preservation, and community empowerment.

Tara Zagofsky

Tara is currently working with the Center's Healthy Youth, Healthy Regions Project and the Environmental Justice Project, in collaboration with the John Muir Institute for the Environment. She provides facilitation, community engagement and research services. Tara holds a BA in Sociology and Cultural Studies and a MS in Community Development. Her interests are focused around multicultural facilitation - www.tarazagofsky.com.