Chiara Cannella
Department of Language, Reading, and Culture, College of Education, Ph.D. student
cannella@email.arizona.edu

I have worked on the Research Collaborative on Youth Activism since January 2006. The RCYA is a national organization of Youth Participatory Action Research and Activism projects and is co-directed by BARA Prof. Julio Cammarota and Dr. Shawn Ginwright at the César Chávez Institute for Public Policy at San Francisco State University.

Prior to working with the RCYA, I spent two years working with the Youth, Communities, and Social Justice Project; principal Investigators were Prof. Julio Cammarota, U of A; Prof. Pedro Noguera, NYU; and Prof. Shawn Ginwright, San Francisco State University. That work focused on how researchers committed to social justice principles can exert more influence over policy. My master's research considered the implications of educational standardization for Native American students and communities.

My research interests include participatory and community-based action research methods, civic and social activism in disenfranchised communities, education, and youth development.

Lauren Penney
Anthropology Department, M.A. student
lpenney@email.arizona.edu

I began working with BARA as an RA in 2004-05 on a U.S. Minerals Management Service-funded study looking at the history and impacts of offshore oil and gas activity in southern Louisiana. I continue to work on this project, helping to write a paper based upon the brief fieldwork conducted during my RAship; this paper investigates the correlation between World War Two and offshore oil development. I received my B.A. in anthropology and psychology from California State University-Stanislaus. During that time I also worked for an applied anthropological consulting firm (LTG Associates) where I did work evaluating projects aimed at reducing recidivism amongst mentally ill offenders.

Academic interests: child and youth health and illness, especially as related to physical activity and nutrition; critical medical anthropology; applied anthropology.