We are thrilled to welcome 3 incoming Sociology PhD students this fall: Allison Donine (top left), Xena Itzkowitz (bottom left), and Jamie Hanna (top right); one Marine and Environmental Sciences PhD student Savannah Swinea; as well as Bella Raponi (middle) and Ricky Salvator (bottom right), our two new undergraduate Co-Op students who began working in the PFAS lab this July.
Learn more about our new students below, or read their full bios on the SSEHRI Members page.
Jamie Hanna completed her BA in Law, Politics, and Society and Sociology at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. As an undergraduate, Jamie worked as a research assistant on projects that included midwifery licensure and legal mobilization as well as an ethnographic study of legalization of cannabis in Colorado.
Allison Donine received her B.A. in Environmental Analysis and Policy from Pitzer College. Prior to coming to Northeastern, she served as Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines, working in the coastal resources management (CRM) sector to build local capacities and cross-sector coordination to address mounting socio-environmental concerns. Allison also served as an Americorps member with the American Red Cross, working over 1500 hours in emergency response and preparedness education.
Xena Itzkowitz received her BA in International Studies and Environmental Studies from American University, her MA in International Relations from American University, and her MA in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from the United Nations University for Peace. Her previous research investigated both the physical and social science of microplastics and plastics, and decolonization. She has previously worked with the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (Water and Society branch), and the Smithsonian Institution.
Ricky Salvatore is a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in environmental science and mathematics. He is interested in the application of statistical analysis to environmental and health sciences, in an effort to address systemic injustices facing disadvantaged communities across the country and throughout the world. He is a research assistant on the PFAS project, primarily working on the contamination site tracker and maintaining the project website.
Bella Raponi is a third-year undergraduate student at Northeastern University pursuing a combined Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Chemistry. She is a research assistant on the PFAS project and focuses on the contamination site tracker and the project website. She first became interested in environmental chemistry while aboard a research vessel traveling from San Diego, California to Seward, Alaska. This was followed by a field study in Iceland for volcanic and glacial processes; these diverse experiences further developed Bella’s interest in environmental issues and led her to the PFAS Project for her first co-op.
Savannah Swinea is a PhD Student under Dr. Steven Scyphers in the Social-Ecological Sustainability Lab in the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences at Northeastern University. Savannah received her BS in Environmental Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her undergraduate thesis detailed the economic impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Gulf fisheries. She worked as a research technician in a fish ecology and coastal oceanography lab at UNC’s Institute of Marine Sciences prior to beginning her doctoral work. Her research interests include applying a social-ecological systems framework to coastal systems like fisheries and identifying how mental models of coastal systems from diverse stakeholders differ at multiple scales of community complexity.