Dr. Marisol Cortez (Community Collaborator)
Rooted in San Antonio, I write across genre about place and power as a poet, novelist, and community-based scholar. Much of my writing, both creative and scholarly, is grounded in over 20 years of involvement in environmental justice movements, which informed my doctoral research at UC Davis. After an ACLS New Faculty Fellowship at University of Kansas, I returned to San Antonio, my home, to embed my writing and research in movements there to protect la madre tierra. A mama of two, I currently juggle writing, full-time parenting, and co-editing responsibilities for Deceleration, an online journal of environmental justice thought and praxis. Ultimately, I write to remember the land and its pluriverse of inhabitants; to make visible colonial logics of displacement; and above all to give voice to those longings that might call forth new relationships of ecosocial interdependence and solidarity.
In 2020, I published my debut novel Luz at Midnight (FlowerSong Press, 2020), which won the Texas Institute of Letters Sergio Troncoso Award for Best First Book of Fiction. I am also the author of I Call on the Earth (Double Drop Press, 2019), a chapbook of documentary poetry, and “Making Displacement Visible: A Case Study Analysis of the ‘Mission Trail of Tears’,” which together record the displacement of Mission Trails Mobile Home Community within the context of San Antonio’s colonial history. For more info on publications and projects, visit http://mcortez.net/.
Paulina Hernandez-Trejo (Graduate Research Assistant)
Although I am currently an English Master’s Student at the University of Texas at San Antonio, I was a middle school Language Arts teacher for three years after I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where I got my bachelor’s degree in English.
My future research and studies’ focus will be on Multicultural Literature, specifically Latinx and immigration narratives. I am a first generation student, originally from El Paso, TX.
During my years teaching 6th graders, I realized the severe lack of Culturally Relevant Teaching practices that our youth are exposed to in their curriculum. Teachers must go out of their way to use these practices. I strongly believe our youth deserves better—specifically our students of color that deserve to have their culture and history taught to them. I am excited to be working with the Urban Bird Project because I believe that this project will benefit our San Antonionian youth and enhance our community’s appreciation for CRT.
Renee Espinoza (Graduate Research Assistant)
Originally from El Paso, Texas, I am currently in my first year of the English Master’s program at UTSA. I graduated with my Bachelor’s in English from the UT school in El Paso (known as UTEP) in May 2022, and I moved to San Antonio to pursue a higher level of education in Chicanx Literature. During my final semester at UTEP, I completed my teaching internship at Irvin High School which serves a high population of Hispanic students where many become the first to graduate with a high school diploma. During my internship, I became fully invested in working with high school seniors because I was able to give them advice about a few things I wish I knew before entering college like specific terminology such as tuition, financial aid, etc.
Joining Urban Bird Project has been an exciting step in my education because it allows me to continue working with students. A big reason I chose UTSA for my graduate school is because they are a highly serving Hispanic population similar to UTEP. Growing up on the U.S. Mexican border is very unique to the American experience because we El Pasoans treat Ciudad Juárez not as a land that is foreign, but as one that mimics our own culture, language, food, and religion—a sister city. What I find most rewarding about this project is that we get to learn from our students and their families. Not only do we teach them about the history and ecology of San Antonio, but they also teach us about the history and stories of their families!
Juan-Danniel Hernandez (Graduate Research Assistant)
I am an English Doctoral Student in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). I earned my Bachelor of Arts in English at UTSA before leaving to obtain my Master of Arts in English at Texas Tech University (TTU). There I specialized in Literature, Social Justice, and the Environment (LSJE).
My doctoral research focuses on transdisciplinary Environmental Justice Rhetorics and Politics. Having been born and raised in San Antonio, my research also stems from looking at more autonomously oriented designs to urban transitions for Mexican-American and other minority communities within San Antonio.
I am excited to engage in this community-led research on birds, people, and communities. I hope the Urban Bird Project can help promote understanding and build communities for students in the San Antonio area and beyond.