Amira Ainis
Amira Ainis is an Environmental Archaeologist specializing in the lifeways of hunter-gatherer-fisher peoples spanning the past ~11,000 years across the Baja California peninsula. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at California State University, Los Angeles, and received her PhD from the University of Oregon in 2019. Amira’s research encompasses diachronic adaptations to coastal and island ecosystems, cultural and ecological transition zones, Indigenous cultural landscapes, marine historical ecology and paleoecology, ancient fisheries, and archaeological shell studies. Her work is rooted in long-term binational collaborations with fellow archaeologists and marine scientists on both sides of the arbitrary U.S./Mexico border.
Highlight Publication
Ainis, A. F., Porcayo-Michelini, A., Vellanoweth, R. L., & Guía-Ramírez, A. (2021). Morphometric and stable isotope analysis of archaeological Totoaba macdonaldi otoliths, Baja California, México. Quaternary International, 595, 98-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.03.037
Jessica Bremner
Jessica Bremner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, Geology, and Environment at California State University Los Angeles. Her research interests lie at the intersection of spatial justice, gender, housing, participatory practices, and the environment. Her most recent work examines the processes that shape the spatial inequality of water access and housing informality in the Coachella Valley. Prior to receiving her doctorate in Urban Planning from UCLA, Jessica was the Planning Director of Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI), a non-profit community development and design firm based in Los Angeles, USA and Nairobi, Kenya.
Highlight Publication
Bremner, J., (2024) “Groundwater overdraft is water dispossession”, Journal of Political Ecology 31(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.5587