Areidy A. Beltran-Peña

Areidy is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management at UC Berkeley. Her research focuses on the impacts of climate change on the Food-Energy-Water Nexus. As part of her Ph.D. research, she has used integrated hydrological, climate, and societal models to perform global food security vulnerability analyses with a subsequent case study on the African continent to identify opportunities for sustainable agricultural adaptation under climate change. Her current work involves using earth system models to project changes in snow regimes in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains and the implications for water resources. Areidy is funded by the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program. She was also previously awarded the National Science Foundation InFEWS (Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems) fellowship and holds a designated emphasis in Development Engineering.

Before joining ESPM, Areidy worked in the environmental and geotechnical engineering consulting industry in the Bay Area for two years. Areidy holds a Masters degree in Earth and Planetary Science and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Earth Science (with a minor in Global Poverty and Practice) from UC Berkeley. She has participated in various programs around the world that have allowed her to expand her skillsets in data science, business fundamentals, and foreign languages. She is constantly looking for new opportunities to narrow any knowledge gaps and considers herself a life-long learner.