Francisca (Kika) Santana

Francisca Santana earned her Ph.D. in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER). She studies how social processes and interactions influence individual and community response to environmental change and climate risk. She investigates what motivates coastal users to take pro-environmental action in a declining coral reef environment on Maui, Hawaiʻi, the social nature of protective health decisions in response to wildfire smoke, and the ways that rural bayou communities engage with coastal restoration efforts and adaptation in southeastern Louisiana. Many of her projects are collaborative and community-engaged, grounding her research in place-based needs and amplifying local and Indigenous voices on issues of climate justice. Before her doctoral studies at Stanford, Francisca worked on air quality, coastal pollution, and marine policy issues in the nonprofit and government sectors. She received a master's degree in environmental science and management from UC Santa Barbara and a BA in history from Yale University.

Francisca is originally from Vermont, where the rural beauty and communal environmental ethics planted a seed for her future studies. As she worked on federal and state climate policies early in her career, Francisca was increasingly interested in why some people expressed more care and concern for the environment than others. This led her to understand the importance of local level policies and knowledge, especially in locations that are already experiencing the effects of climate change. When not conducting research, Francisca likes to spend time outdoors, bake, and write songs for her cat, Marty McFly. She currently lives in Paris, France with her partner.