UC Berkeley

My dissertation integrates theories and methods from pathogen ecology, infectious disease epidemiology and anti-racist pedagogy. For the first part of my dissertation, I focus on two environmentally- mediated, infectious diseases impacting the respiratory system, COVID-19 and coccidioidomycosis. My first chapter reviews key environmental features that characterize the soil niche of the two known fungal species in the Coccidioides genus, the etiologic agents for coccidioidomycosis. In this chapter, I aim to understand the environmental biology of Coccidioides species, C. immitis and C. posadasii, and factors that influence the pathogens’ life history. My second chapter explores the most important health, social, and environmental factors impacting transmission and mortality rates in US counties to determine the sectors of society most vulnerable to infection and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the last part of my dissertation, I outline a pedagogical framework which integrates social theories in methods for anti-racist praxis. In my third chapter I present a pedagogical framework with anti-racist principles for developing a course centered on uplifting racially minoritized groups in higher education.