About Fei

A queer. non-binary Asian American environmental scientist, artist, and organizer born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area / Ohlone Karkin land, Fei (they/them) works at the intersection of climate change, environmental and social justice, and community art. 

Fei has a strong analytical background in environmental science. They graduated from Wellesley College, MA with top honors and have worked extensively as a researcher on climate change, population genetics, and ecological modeling in Costa Rica, Tibet, and Australia. Their PhD research at The University of Melbourne focused on  wastewater reuse for agricultural irrigation in Shepparton, Australia and included public health risk modeling, agricultural fieldwork, and economic feasibility analysis. After graduate school, Fei worked as a CivicSpark AmeriCorps Fellow with the City of Emeryville, CA on climate change policy development and implementation. At ICLEI USA, Fei led the climate equity work and provided technical assistance to local governments on climate mitigation and adaptation planning. In addition to this policy work, Fei also worked as a food justice researcher for Food First and a program associate supporting a local Bay Area environmental justice coalition, the Resilient Communities Initiative under Rooted in Resilience. Currently, they are the sustainability manager at the City of San Leandro, managing the development and implementation of the Climate Action Plan 2.0. In this position, they support the City of San Leandro's race and equity work, collaborate with NorCal Resilience Network on resilience hubs, and do deep community relationship building and outreach. They are on the BayCAN Equity Working Group, California Adaptation Forum advisory committee, National Adaptation Forum advisory committee, and Urban Sustainability Directors Network People of Color Support Initiative planning committee. 

Fei has organized with a number of environmental and social justice community groups. They worked several years as managing editor of Wellesley Underground, Wellesley College's alternative alumnae magazine; internal communications director of Permablitz Melbourne, an urban agriculture organization in Melbourne; and coordinator of The University of Melbourne's community garden. Their organizing experience includes co-founding the California Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) Climate Network, supporting Sogorea Te Land Trust in land rematriation, facilitating collaboration around the movement for Black Lives, advising the Bay Area Sunrise Movement hub on equity work, and building queer and trans Asian Pacific Islander community. They are active with Asians4BlackLives, Lavender Phoenix, Resource Generation, and the solidarity team with POOR Magazine. Fei was a 2016-17 Equity Fellow with the San Francisco Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and 2018-19 Fellow with the Creating Freedom Movement cohort. They are currently a Year 4 Participant with the Intercultural Leadership Institute.

Outside of organizing, Fei pursues creative projects under Art Without A Frame. Their art practice includes a variety of mediums and topics. They have worked on community art projects with San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, City of San Leandro's Utility Box Program, City of Melbourne's Centre of Multicultural Youth, the City of Darebin and the Melbourne Midsumma Queer Arts and Culture Festival, the Beehive Design Collective, the People of Coloring and the United States Asian American Festival, the Sketchbook Project, and Lavender Phoenix.