Damien Bonds is a PhD student at the University of California, Irvine in the Department of Sociology. His current research foregrounds environmental justice advocacy in South Los Angeles. With experience as a Marine biology lab technician and archaeology lab technician, and a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Florida International University, interdisciplinary studies come naturally within his repertoire.

Damien is currently a research fellow with CLIMATE Justice Initiative, a community-based research organization working towards equitable climate change solutions, housed within the Department of Earth Science department of the University of California Irvine.

Damien was formerly a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he ran track and field as a Division I athlete, in addition to military service and academic duties. During his time at West Point, he learned to, “...choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never be content with a half-truth when the whole can be won”.  His childhood home was in Dayton, Ohio, where he was a multi-sport athlete and three-year team captain of his high school track and field team.