Project and Communications Intern, Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization (CEGU)

Sofia is a fourth-year student majoring in Environmental and Urban Studies (Urban Track) and minoring in Health and Society. She grew up in Madison, WI, with a profound appreciation for nature, a strong commitment to social justice, and a big curiosity for how cities and communities shape each other. As we navigate the climate crisis, she aims to work on pushing cities to be just, regenerative, playful, and radically caring. She looks forward to combining vital local change with broader systems thinking, and is interested in how urban and regional planning can intentionally and legitimately support community-planned public space. In her current undergraduate thesis research, she is investigating the planning response to a community-claimed and managed space in Paris. Through this research, she seeks to understand how precarious, collective spaces challenge current mechanisms of urban planning and how best to support them. Beyond urban planning, she is interested in urban agroecology, water systems, food sovereignty, and ethnobotany.