Ethan Elkind — Host: Ethan is the Director of the Climate Program at the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) and leads the Climate Change and Business Research Initiative on behalf of the UC Berkeley and UCLA Schools of Law. He has a background in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), climate change law, environmental justice, and other environmental law topics. At Climate Break, Ethan oversees the entire project and interviews subjects.
Ken Alex— Executive Producer: Ken spent eight years as a Senior Policy Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown, the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and the Chair of the Strategic Growth Council, focusing on climate, environment, and land use issues. Before joining the Governor’s Office, Ken was the Senior Assistant Attorney General heading the environment section of the California Attorney General’s Office, and the co-head of the Office’s global warming unit. Ken oversees the entire Climate Break project.
Alexandra Jade Garcia — Assistant Producer: Alexandra is a sophomore at UC Berkeley studying Society & Environment and Legal Studies. She is very passionate about environmental justice, specifically about protecting climate vulnerable communities and communities of color. Her growing interest in journalism brought her to Climate Break, where she is interested in making climate change knowledge accessible and engaging. Beyond academics, she enjoys reading anywhere she can find sunlight!
Marie Hogan — Assistant Producer: Marie is a junior at UC Berkeley studying economics and statistics. Born and raised in the Bay Area, she’s passionate about responsible science journalism and environmental policy. Marie got started as a journalist at 11 when she started a magazine about environmental issues with friends. In her free time, she loves exploring the Berkeley Hills on foot.
Amanda Neslund — Assistant Producer: Amanda is a junior at UC Berkeley studying Society & Environment and Environmental Economics and Policy. She is very passionate about sustainability, energy usage and combating climate change. Her interest in research and climate solutions brought her to Climate Break in the beginning of 2021. She hopes through Climate Break to make engaging and educational content to help raise awareness about environmental problems and innovative solutions. In her free time, she enjoys exploring nature and creating art about environmental issues.
Jericho Rajninger — Assistant Producer: Jericho is currently a third year undergraduate at UC Berkeley pursuing a BA in English and a minor in Global Poverty and Practice. He serves as an Opinion Editor and a Senior Staff Writer for the Daily Californian. He is also working with a Berkeley Law professor on a narrative project exposing injustices of the criminal justice system.
Elizabeth Sherstinsky — Assistant Producer: Elizabeth is currently a research assistant at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment, and an intern at the Council of Infill Builders, a sustainable real estate nonprofit. She majored in anthropology and minored in sustainability as an undergrad, and graduated from UC Berkeley in 2022. She is passionate about implementing climate-friendly infrastructure solutions, climate policy, and the renewable energy transition. In her free time, she plays violin in the UC Berkeley Baroque Orchestra.
Wangyuxuan Xu — Assistant Producer: Wangyuxuan Xu is a visual journalist at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Being raised in a city that is known for its natural scenery but then disturbed by the pollution, she is always environmentally conscious. She is passionate about visual storytelling, especially those relating to a variety of climate and environmental topics.
Brock Williams — Assistant Producer
Climate Break Alumni
Megan Bergeron — Former Audio Producer: Megan is an audiovisual journalist at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon where she studied journalism and international studies. She’s drawn to telling stories about underrepresented groups of people and social justice causes. She is originally from Portland, Oregon, but currently resides in the Bay Area. In her free time she loves to play soccer and cook for her family.
Ashlea Brown — Former Audio Producer: Ashlea’s a journalist and graduate student at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. At Climate Break, she edits audio and reports stories. She’s interested in covering issues affecting communities of color and engaging conversations of social and racial justice through environment, culture, and policies. Outside of work, she spends free time traveling and trying new foods.
Danielle Elliott — Former Production Assistant: Danielle’s a law student at UC Berkeley who studied journalism as an undergrad at Northwestern University. She’s interested in environmental justice and writing the Green New Deal. At Climate Break, she writes scripts and manages the production team. Since moving to the Bay Area from Chicago for school, she swims in the ocean whenever she can.
Rochelle Gluzman — Former Production Assistant: Rochelle is in her final year of undergraduate study at UC Berkeley, where she is majoring in Media Studies and Society & Environment. At Climate Break, she helps research and write about innovative climate solutions. She’s passionate about environmental justice and protecting biodiversity. She has a ficus tree named Fig, and she’s moving to Paris this summer!
Rachel Goldberg — Former Production Assistant: Rachel is a judicial clerk with the Intermediate Court of Appeals in Hawai’i. She recently completed her J.D. at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa with certificates in Environmental Law and Native Hawaiian Law. Prior to law school, Rachel was an educator at SEEQSPublic Charter School, where she taught about the relationship between environmental history, art, and society. At Climate Break, she gets to focus her interests in climate justice and environmental policy into research and writing for the production team.
Hannah Johansson — Former Production Assistant: Hannah is an undergraduate majoring in Conservation and Resource Studies and minoring in Global Studies. Since starting college, she’s been involved with environmental journalism, which eventually brought her to Climate Break where she works as part of the production team documenting agricultural solutions to climate change. Outside of academics, she loves plants. Right now she is growing her own tea!
Hayley Lai — Former Researcher: Hayley Lai is a sophomore at UC Berkeley studying Economics and Environmental Science. Having lived in four different countries, she is passionate about global sustainable development and environmental policy. Hayley has been involved in research with the Center for Law, Energy, & the Environment (CLEE) since freshman year. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking and exploring new places.
Isabel Lyndon — Former Audio Producer: Isabel a journalist, video editor, and graduate student at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. At Climate Break, she reports stories and edits audio. She’s drawn to stories about environmental justice and politics. When she’s not working you can find her pedaling around the Bay Area on her bike!
Judah Marsden — Former Production Assistant: Judah is a junior at UC Berkeley majoring in Conservation and Resource studies. He grew up in Madrid, Spain, and later Silicon Valley, where he completed an extensive array of video work with entities such as NASA TV UHD and later the Blum Center for developing economies while at Berkeley. He is interested in communicating to a broader audience issues of environmental justice and climate change through audio-visual means. A fun fact about him is that he helped construct a living Butterfly Museum in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Callie Rhoades — Former Assistant Producer: Callie Rhoades is a multimedia journalist and graduate student at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Callie graduated in December 2019 from the University of Colorado Boulder with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in Technology, Arts and Media. She is passionate about equitable access to information, especially information relating to a variety of climate and environmental topics. Callie focuses the majority of her reporting on climate change, environmental justice, and water issues.
Aisha Wallace-Palomares — Former Production Assistant: Aisha is second year undergraduate studying Political Science at UC Berkeley; she is from Escondido, CA. Aisha is passionate about fighting for climate justice and has advocated for climate action since she was 15 years old. She has been involved with San Diego 350, Sierra Club, Oceana, and Zero Waste San Diego. At Berkeley, she helped lead 2 climate strikes and was President of Students for Climate Action. Currently, she is a member of the Escondido Climate Action Plan Community Advisory Committee and is working on research for Latinx’s and the Environment.