Hello everyone!
My name is Yessenia. I am working with JoyGrows through the Chesapeake Bay Trust as a Corp Member for the 2026-2027 year. I am honored for the opportunity to work with everyone to create a long-lasting vision of environmental stewardship and environmental education.
I recently graduated Loyola University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts in Writing and minors in Environmental Studies and Philosophy. I discovered my environmental passion my junior year of college–after changing my major seven times. I’ve attended lectures on climate change, have been invited to speak at round-table events–answering environmental questions at a round table with students–and interned with MoonBeam Oysters to restore oyster populations at the water’s edge and Cassidy Law to examine cases involving PFAS.
Fall of 2024, I worked on my Environmental studies capstone with Professor O’Niell, Interim Director, Center for the Humanities, and Dr.Giampetro, Professor of Law & Social Responsibility. The three of us worked to create a book that focused on the intersectional role environmental disasters have on human health. Dr.Giampetro and I worked closely on the litigation research, while Dr.O’Niell and I worked on editing, research, and storytelling. Nature’s Warning: The Human Cost of A Polluted Planet, is the finished product of my research. A book that is inspired by true stories such as Eli’s in The Sound of Oil, and by the environmental events such as Deepwater Horizon, Exxon Valdez, and many more.
Spring of 2025, I worked on a poetry book Where the Roots Remember, with poems full of Indigenous stories and the impacts of extractivism. In the summer of 2025, I received a grant from the Center of Humanities to write an eco-chapbook on extinction. I worked with Professor Hofling, Baltimore-based writer, editor, and artist. The product of our work became visible through our chapbook, Echoes with a Pulse (Eco Poetry on Extinction), handed at the event held in September.
All this to say, I am very dedicated to my writing and am so excited to continue doing that with JoyGrows. I will be doing written work behind the scenes, but I will also be a familiar face around the community! I am excited to work on projects with Matthew. One of the projects I am excited for is composting. A goal of mine is to have compost bins at the neighborhood gardens and expand that to have compost bins in the wider community. I will also be handling social media, writing blogs (as I am doing now), and have more physical work such as zines that will act as a guide to fall planting, composting, soil education, the importance of planting native species, and more.
I will focus on Spanish outreach to bring more of our community together and break the language barrier. You will see and hear me speak in Spanish, while also practicing my public speaking (my own personal goal), at council meetings, around the neighborhood, and any event I attend. On Fridays I will work from home, visiting different nurseries, farmers markets, and gardening sites to make connections and gather knowledge and skills needed to start our work.
I hope to accomplish everything here and more. Over the next year, I hope to have contributed much of my support and resources to this community. Thank you guys for having me here and I hope to work and connect with everyone while I am here!
