Episode 46: Environmental Justice in the San Joaquin Valley
“Farmworkers have not worked for over a month because even when is not raining, a lot of the fields have been flooded, so they have not been able to go and work. Often times when the farmers say ‘We need help’—they have their insurance that protect their crops and themselves—farmworkers don’t and for those who are undocumented, there is not even the opportunity to get unemployment.”
A conversation with Nayamin Martinez (Central California Environmental Justice Network) about environmental public health issues and activism in the San Joaquin Valley. Released March 24, 2023.
guests on the show
Nayamin Martinez
Nayamin Martinez is the Executive Director of the Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN). Prior to joining CCEJN, Nayamin worked for the Madera County Public Health Department as a Health Education Coordinator and for ten years was the Health Projects Coordinator for the Binational Center for the Development of the Oaxacan Indigenous Communities. Nayamin has vast experience in working with immigrant and indigenous communities across the San Joaquin Valley managing public health programs in a variety of environmental topics including pesticides and air pollution. She has conducted participatory research and launched leadership and civic engagement programs. Nayamin serves in various advisory groups including the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program’s Pests, Pesticides and IPM Project; the Environmental Justice Advisory Group of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District; the Community Stakeholders Advisory Committee of the UC Davis Environmental Health Science Core Center; and the Children’s Health & Air Pollution Study, among others. Nayamin holds a Master’s Degree in both Public Health and Sociology. Follow Nayamin’s work @CCEJN.