I grew up right across the bay in Pacific Grove. I was pretty involved at PGHS, and got voted most likely to be a game show host by the end of high school. But in spite of being the class clown, I really loved school. I went to college in New Orleans, where I saw first hand the social injustice of environmental problems. I was able to travel all around the Mississippi River and see how the biology and chemistry of the oil industry was impacting poor minority communities. It had a huge impact on me and made me ask: how will climate change impact the poor?

I am lucky enough to do my research in Southeast Asia. I study the impacts of climate change on agriculture in Cambodia and Vietnam, and how farmers make decisions. I have designed a interdisciplinary project that mixes social and natural science methods to understand how the human and natural environment interact. I ask questions about how farmers manage their rice crops during a flood or drought, how male and female farmers react differently, and what types of strategies they use to cope with hard years when their crops don’t make it to the market.

I have taught and tutored at many different high schools and am excited to be a scientist in residence at WHS. I hope to show students how fun the scientific process can be, whether you work with humans, plants, or both!

Contact Jenny: jmlovell@ucsc.edu