David Herrera

David is a fifth-year Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at Brown University specializing in American Politics. His research interests include racial and ethnic politics, urban politics, community organizing, and environmental justice. David’s dissertation explores how the community organizing practices of local environmental justice organizations in Oakland and San Diego shape the policy agenda of local government on air pollution issues. He is deeply invested in solving real world problems like air pollution that disproportionately impact underprivileged minority communities. David is also a passionate advocate for environmental justice. He is currently working with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, an environmental justice grassroots organization, by helping update the Neighborhood Knowledge for Change report, a document that assesses the changes needed to improve the environmental and socioeconomic conditions in West Oakland. This report will serve as a tool of community empowerment and expose the underlying inequities that are often overlooked by policymakers. David is also a mentor for the Students of Color Environmental Collective at UC Berkeley. He encourages students to recognize their worth and helps them navigate the academic space to make it possible to address environmental issues.

Prior to attending Brown, David worked as an Executive Operations Specialist for the Carnegie Foundation in Stanford, California. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in Political Science from Brown University. His dissertation research has been supported by the Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation (2022-2023), the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (2022), Brown University’s Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy (2022), and Brown University’s Political Science Department (2021).