San Francisco / Oakland cohort
Aura Salas (she/her/hers) is entering her senior year at Cal and will soon be graduating with a BS in Chemistry. Aura is most interested in how her background in chemistry and environmental justice can be merged to uplift the voices of frontline communities with the power of science and education. Fighting Big Oil and plastic pollution has become one of her main goals in her fight for environmental justice. Aura was born in Arequipa, Peru, where her family from her mom’s side continues to reside. She hopes to go back and visit once she graduates Cal. Side note: Aura is actually her nickname! She connects with the name “Aura” in a way she doesn’t with her birth name, feel free to personally ask her why. She loves going on nature walks, ranting on about politics, memeing on Twitter, or asking people if they want to go karaoke. Her favorite musicians includes UMI, Michael Seyer, Inner Wave, Childish Gambino, Frank Ocean, and a bunch of other artists she finds on Spotify’s individualized playlists.