Ariana Berenice Lopez Espino

Ariana Berenice (she/they/ella) is in her fourth year of the WGSS PhD. She is a proud Latina mother-scholar. She grew up in México and moved to the US as a teenager. Having lived as an undocumented immigrant for a decade left many scars that motivated her to pursue a PhD in WGSS. Ariana’s research interests include the survival of US Latina single mothers, as well as everything related to mothers. Planting seeds of feminism and justice through teaching and community projects are her passion. She dedicates her life to Shanti, her 6-year-old daughter, saying: “Everything I do is for her to have a meaningful life in which she is treated with love and respect.”