Jimena N. Perez Arevalo

Jimena is a proud first generation Chicana from Southeast LA (SELA). She is currently a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Geography at UC Berkeley. Framing SELA as a place where Black, Indigenous, and Latinx geographies intersect and entangle, her work situates the L.A. River— what Tongva people call paayme paxaayt—as a site of theory, history, and speculation. Through participant observation, ethnography, and multimedia analysis, Jimena explores the multiplicity of worlds that the river produces, with and through LA County residents who labor against state-sanctioned violence in pursuit of livable futures that sustain local lifeways and protect communities. Her research has been generously supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP), the Chancellor's Fellowship (UC Berkeley), and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (Dartmouth College). Outside of her studies, she enjoys dancing, binge-watching reality TV, traveling, and building community.