Sophia Rodriguez is a first-generation scholar and Ph.D. student in medical anthropology at UC Riverside. A Los Angeles native, her early experience with asthma sparked a passion for environmental health justice. She earned a dual M.A./MPH in Latin American Studies and Public Health from San Diego State University, where her research focused on asthma and environmental hazards in communities near the Salton Sea. Rodriguez was awarded the 2024–25 CSU Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program Fellowship and aspires to become a faculty member at a Hispanic-Serving Institution, continuing her advocacy for underserved communities.