Arantza Lira

Something About Me

Arantza is a first generation, rising fourth year, Environmental Studies B.S. student at UCSB. Through an internship with Commite Civico Del Valle, she learned how harmful agricultural practices and a heavy reliance on pesticides harmed the respiratory health of agricultural communities such as her own. This shaped her interests in regenerative agricultural practices and in the importance of food sovereignty. In 2023, she interned at the UCSB-Smithsonian Scholars Program where she created a research poster on the ecological benefits of shaded coffee farms in Panama and their promotion of biodiversity, bird habitat protection and natural pest control effects it provides. This past summer she was at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, working to improve the SpOccSum tool, a Python code that aids in creating summary visualizations for scientists working with museum data. As a 2025 Fellow, Arantza is working with PhD Student, Brian Lee, using remote sensing technologies to monitor the foraging patterns of Mexican free-tailed bats in the central valley to understand how biodiversity can reduce pesticide exposure for agricultural communities. This upcoming school year, Arantza will be working as the garden coordinator at the Three Sisters and Four Directions garden on campus. In her free time she enjoys journaling and trying new recipes.