Resilient Food Systems and Nutrition, Fellow
What I do:
Maria Muñoz is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Social and Behavioral Population Sciences at the Celia S. Weatherhead School of Public Health at Tulane University and a research assistant on projects addressing food insecurity and climate vulnerability. Her research examines food and nutrition insecurity and health disparities in communities on the frontlines of climate change. For her dissertation, Maria plans to partner with several communities in Puerto Rico to identify local risk factors contributing to food and nutrition insecurity and to evaluate how social capital functions as a protective factor in mitigating these risks. Before beginning her Ph.D., Maria worked at a landscape architecture firm, contributing to interdisciplinary projects with designers and researchers that explored the structural, systemic, and socio-spatial factors influencing disparities in food access, green infrastructure, flooding, and ecological cohabitation. She earned her Master’s in Disaster Resilience and Leadership from Tulane University, where her work focused on the intersection of public health, environmental sustainability, and disaster preparedness.