Student Staff

Undergraduate, Environmental Economics and Policy. Olivia is a third year at UC Berkeley. Growing up around agricultural producers in the Nicasio valley of Marin County, she developed an interest in regenerative food systems that combine both environmental and societal health. She believes in the potential that food systems have to change the way we live for the better. In her free time, she enjoys reading, road trips, hiking, and spending time with the people she loves. She looks forward to being a part of BFI’s mission for a more sustainable and just food system.

Undergraduate, Environmental Sciences. Moncerrat is a third year undergraduate student from Oxnard, California. Growing up in an agricultural city, she engaged with matters impacting farmworkers’ health. Her interests include environmental justice, technology, and medicine. In her free time she enjoys spending time with family, traveling, and gardening. She looks forward to being a part of a collective effort and connecting with community members.

Sarah is a fourth-year student at UC Berkeley. Before joining BFI, she interned for the White House Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation Office, where she supported the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act. She has also worked with the Regeneration Field Institute, an environmental education program based out of Manabi, Ecuador; where she taught hands-on workshops on composting, syntropic agroforestry, land restoration, and supply chain sustainability. On campus, she is the Berkeley Student Food Collective co-chair and volunteers at the Gill Tract Community Farm. She is currently conducting an honors thesis analyzing strategies to scale regenerative agriculture practices globally. Her passion for environmentalism stems from her time advocating for communities affected by fossil fuel infrastructure in her hometown of Los Angeles. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, thrift shopping, and spending time in nature.

Sarah Sarfaty Epstein is an M.S. student in the Energy and Resources Group interested in researching large scale projects in California’s agriculture sector to understand the practical relationships among reduction targets, energy production, economic viability for producers, and the role of farmworker and labor organizing. Sarah has held a variety of professional roles in the environmental and human services sectors, most recently as an Associate at Ross Strategic where she worked on various food system, rural development and energy resource projects. At Ross Strategic, Sarah conducted policy analysis, worked on mixed methods evaluations and was a member of the facilitation team for the Washington Food Policy Forum. She graduated from Boston University in 2015 with degrees in Communications and Environmental Analysis and Policy. Originally from the East Bay, Sarah is happy to be back on her home soil exploring on her bike and spending time with family.

Allison Parra is a fourth year undergrad studying Environmental Economics & Policy and minoring in Food Systems. She got into food systems by volunteering at local farms, which made her realize how much she loves doing the hard work that farming and gardening is. Growing ones own food is such an awesome thing that anyone anywhere should be able to do! She is also interested in urban farming and gardening, food equity, outdoor equity and opportunities, outdoor education with youth, agroecology. In her free time she enjoys running, swimming, hiking, flea markets, gardening, and watching movies.

Sofia is a first-year MBA student from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Growing up the daughter of two chefs, she’s always had a love for food and the way that breaking bread brings people together. A few years ago, she developed an interest in the intersection between food systems and environmental and social justice — she started volunteering on permaculture farms that emphasized engagement with nature as a form of meditation and healing, and learned all about making compost and applying regenerative farming techniques! She fell in love with this space, and chose to apply to Berkeley Haas and pursue an MBA with the intent of focusing her career on social & environmental impact within food and agri-business. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, cooking, traveling, spending time with friends and family, and dancing.