Sofia Trigueros Ufford (she/her) is a senior at the University of California at Santa Cruz, double majoring in Latin American and Latino studies and agroecology, and holds the New York State Seal of Biliteracy in English and Spanish. Read more for insights into her time on campus undertaking undergraduate research.
Q: How did you first get started with undergraduate research?
A: I am passionate about intersectional environmentalism and am involved in many related programs at UC Santa Cruz and the greater community. For two years, I have been a part of LALS faculty member Lily Pearl Balloffet’s Venom Lab, where I have created an online database, researched archives of antivenom records, and analyzed medical records. During the past academic year, I also worked on an independent study, Exploración de Herpetología: Para la Educación de Todos, which was a project working towards providing better wildlife education for public schools in the United States and Costa Rica.
Q: What other experiences have helped enrich your perspective while undertaking research?
A: During my time here, I have studied abroad in Costa Rica and Mexico, where I was able to gain hands-on experience with sustainable agriculture and opportunities. In my hometown in New York, I volunteer at the Cornell Farmworkers Program and the local food pantry. This coming summer, I will be interning for UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Labor and Community program, Labor Summer, to work alongside a union and advocate for their needs.
Q: What research are you currently working on, and why is it important?
A: Currently, I am working on a project through Rachel Carson College, which will address the pressing issue of the current condition of agriculture and farmworkers in the United States, making an effort to display a wide variety of ideas and arguments for how respective communities can help to improve these conditions. Interviews will be conducted with farmworkers, farmowners, and labor union organizers. Throughout this fellowship, I will collaborate with the Center for Farmworker Families, the Cornell Farmworkers Program, farms in the greater Watsonville area, and the United Auto Workers Union. A curated collection of journalistic entries, such as articles (reports, investigative pieces, stories), photography, and audio pieces, will be produced to exhibit the present conditions of agricultural laborers. The aim of my project is to spotlight farm workers’ conditions and struggles for labor rights while expanding the public’s current knowledge of agricultural injustice and methods to improve our food systems in the US.
Q: What are your plans after graduation?
A: Following graduation, I plan to go to law school for labor law and dedicate my life’s work to improving working conditions for farmworkers everywhere.