About Abby Reyes

Abby Reyes directs Community Resilience Projects in the Office of Sustainability at the University of California, Irvine. The projects are intended to foster people-centered and inclusive solutions to our climate challenges. At UC Irvine School of Law, Reyes also teaches a seminar on Law and Social Movements: Race, Place, and Climate Change. From 2013-2016, Abby directed the UCI Sustainability Initiative and was a co-Principal Investigator of the FloodRISE project, leading the Research Integration and Impact Team. She co-chaired the Faculty Engagement and Education Working Group of the UC Global Climate Leadership Council and oversees UCI’s Sustainability Resource Center. She has provided facilitation and design services for the UC-CSU Knowledge Action Network on Transformative Climate and Sustainability Education, UCI Salton Sea Initiative, UCI OCEANS, Research Justice Learning Community, Nexus 2014, the Borrego Stewardship Council, and is a lead trainer for UC climate and food fellows in transformative sustainability leadership. She has also facilitated advocacy and research collaboration with indigenous communities in California, Colombia, and the Philippines, and contributed to landmark international human rights and environmental cases in domestic federal courts. Reyes completed her undergraduate degree at Stanford University and JD at UC Berkeley Law. She clerked for the Honorable Richard A. Paez on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and recently finished her term co-chairing the board of directors of EarthRights International. She is a partner in the National Association of Climate Resilience Planners and an ambassador for the Pollination Project. Reyes received UC Irvine’s 2015 Excellence in Leadership Award and a 2016 California Higher Education Sustainability Best Practices Award. She has a TEDx talk on How to Come Home.