Robin Lopez

I like my water room temperature, my environment protected, and my science intersectional. 

Robin D. López was raised in San Pablo and Richmond, CA (Ohlone Land) and spent much of his youth working in Oakland and San Francisco. He has an academic and research background invested locally. López attended De Anza High School (Richmond, California) and graduated from Contra Costa College (San Pablo, California) with degrees in Mathematics(AS), Physics(AS), and Sociology(AA) . He transferred and graduated from San Francisco State University with a BS in Civil Engineering. López most recently completed graduate studies at San José State University in Water Resources Engineering, and is also a Research Associate at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (2012-present), working on several projects for the U.S. Department of Energy addressing subsurface technology. He also mentors and teaches 4th/5th grade scholars for a local non-profit, Metas. His trajectory in life was once misguided, not uncommon for many young people from his region, but a passion for the STEM field grew out of resources, opportunities and mentorship. He now commits himself to outreach, ensuring rising scholars can actualize their potential. He cares passionately about mental health awareness and access, science justice and equity, and why people put pineapple on pizza.

López was also awarded the prestigious UC Berkeley Graduate Chancellor’s Fellowship and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program award. Such opportunities and accolades are a reminder that there is amazing untapped potential in communities like Oakland and Richmond, California that are severely under-resourced and underrepresented. As a privileged Ph.D. student in ESPM, he aims to create more opportunities and access whenever and wherever possible.

Outside of science and academia, he enjoys photography and music production. In the past, he was an avid runner – often spotted running the trails of Wildcat Canyon or down San Pablo Avenue. However, after a recent bone marrow donation surgery, recovery has limited his physical activity to short distance walking.

Preferred pronouns: He/Him/His

Feel free to connect on Social Media:

Twitter: @RichmondLyfe

Instagram: @RichmondLyfe