About

Dr. Patterson has worked with several environmental justice nonprofits and government agencies. She was previously the Transportation Equity Research Fellow at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF). One of the policy briefs she authored is entitled New Routes to Equity: The Future of Transportation in the Black Community. In the past, Dr. Patterson worked with the Community Engagement Office at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Biomonitoring California program at the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Furthermore, she worked with Communities for a Better Environment on their Just Transition climate justice initiative as well as Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice on their Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice Response Task Force.

In addition to her work with nonprofits and government, Dr. Patterson also teaches and mentors students. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Patterson has also instructed high school math and college success courses for Upward Bound and SMASH. She was awarded the inaugural Impact Award from the Kapor Center for Social Impact for increasing access to STEM education.

Dr. Patterson earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. While at UC Berkeley, she was a recipient of the US EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowship, the Switzer Environmental Fellowship, and the UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Fellowship. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including Atmospheric Environment, Environmental Justice, and the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Upon earning her doctorate, Dr. Patterson completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UCLA and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley.