Titles

• Graduate Fellow, Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network, Arizona State University

Biography

Ashley J. Méndez Heavilin is a graduate student in the Graduate School of Planning and a research assistant for Centro de Investigaciones Sociales (CIS) at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras (UPR-RP). At CIS, Ashley Méndez is a graduate fellow for the City of San Juan in the National Science Foundation Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network (URExSRN). She holds a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Sociology and a minor in Human Resources from the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras.

During her years as a student, Ashley also worked as a research assistant for the projects “Community Based Climate Change Adaptation Plan in Dorado, Puerto Rico” funded by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), "Convergence of human activities, land use and urban development: Gentrification and alterations to the nitrogen cycle", funded by institutional funds for research (FIPI). She is interested in issues related to natural resource management, environmental justice, and gender studies.

Education

• BA (magna cum laude), Sociology (minor Human Resources), University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras