Advisory Committee
UC MEXUS has been extraordinarily fortunate in Advisory Committee members who have distinguished themselves over the years by actively promoting the Institute's goals and extending their efforts with great generosity.
The committee meets regularly during the year to aid in setting the Institute's academic goals and evaluating its effectiveness in reaching those goals. A representative from each UC campus sits on the committee along with one non-voting representative of the UC Office of the President, and two representatives of Mexican academic institutions.
Michael Allen, UC Riverside chair and professor of the department of plant pathology and chair of the UCR Center for Conservation Biology. His research centers on understanding the effects of human activities on ecosystem biodiversity and functioning.
Saúl Alvarez-Borrego, professor of marine ecology, Department of Ecology, CICESE. Alvarez-Borrego's research focuses on the ecophysiology of marine phytoplankton and the mechanisms responsible for the fertility of oceanic and coastal areas.
Katayoon Dehesh, UC Davis professor of plant biology. Her research has focused on structural, molecular and biochemical analysis of fatty acid biosynthetic enzymes. She also studies the regulatory mechanisms controlling membrane lipid composition and molecular genetics of lipid signaling.
Steven Gleissman, UC Santa Cruz Alfred E. Heller Professor of Agroecology and Environmental Studies. He specializes in agroecology, sustainable agriculture, tropical land use and development, alternative trade networks, sustainable livelihoods and conservation, community and Agroecology.
Katja Lindenberg, UC San Diego professor of chemistry and biochemistry. She specializes in theoretical chemical physics in the area of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, stochastic processes, nonlinear phenomena and condensed matter. Her research group focuses on understanding the origin, nature and consequences of the interactions of physical systems with their environment.
Jere H. Lipps, UC Berkeley professor of evolutionary paleobiology in the Department of Integrative Biology and curator of the UC Museum of Paleontology. Among other things he studies the biology and molecular phylogeny of coral reefs in Papua, New Guinea; Enewetak Atoll, French Polynesia, and Pacific Rim foraminifera (used in environmental and seismic history analyses from Alaska to Mexico and New Zealand) to understand their fossil record.
Ricardo Muñoz, UC San Francisco professor of psychology, chief psychologist at San Francisco General Hospital. He directs the UCCLR-funded Latino Mental Health Research Program, which developed and evaluated bilingual depression treatment and prevention manuals available on the Internet and is establishing an Internet Health Research Center to evaluate evidence-based Internet health interventions worldwide, starting with smoking cessation programs.
Alejandro Nadal Egea, heads the Science, Technology and Development Program at El Colegio de México and teaches comparative economic theory in the Center for Economic Studies. He specializes in the economics of technological change and natural resource management and writes extensively on the economic and environmental impact of macroeconomic and trade policies on Mexican corn-production.
Chon Noriega, UC Los Angeles professor of critical studies, director of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and editor of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies. In addition to recovering and preserving independent films and helping create the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, he has launched a book series on Latino and Latina artists.
Rudy Ortiz, UC Merced assistant professor of physiology & nutrition. He studies basic science questions regarding the regulation of kidney function and metabolism in a variety of animal models including seals and dolphins with the intent that data obtain from these unique animal models will have translative value to clinical medicine.
Juan-Vicente Palerm, UC Santa Barbara professor of anthropology also was the director of UC MEXUS from 1994 to 2003. He studies agribusiness in California and the formation of Chicano/Mexican communities resulting from the permanent settlement of farm workers near places of employment with particular focus is on the intensification of farming and the expansion of agricultural labor markets.
Stephen G. Weller, UC Irvine professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. He specializes in plant population biology and evolutionary genetics of plant reproductive systems.