MEDS 2023
Pronouns: she/her
Bio
Currently, Victoria is pursuing her master’s degree in Environmental Data Science at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Victoria grew up in Northern California, just outside of San Francisco in Marin County. From a young age, she’s been interested in math and has always loved being outdoors. She aptly attended college in Colorado and studied mostly environmental science and applied math (physics, economics, statistics). In 2016, however, when the US decided to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords, she knew she was going to dedicate her life toward reaching equitable and long-term environmental sustainability. Data science, however, was an abstract concept; and it wasn’t until she had completed her first significant work product out of college and her manager exclaimed, “You’re a data scientist now!” that she came to realize data science is exactly what she wanted to be doing. She loves efficiently solving for actionable solutions that “make sense” from an equitable, financial, and ecological viewpoint for all stakeholders. She enrolled in this program to improve her skillset and do more of this type of work: to address the myriad environmental problems we face in a just, fair, and sustainable way. In particular, she envisions herself devising effective models to inform decisions around decarbonizing the electric grid at peak times, optimizing electric vehicle infrastructure, combatting wildfires, cutting down on waste, and maintaining the health of our global freshwater supply.