Grid of headshots featuring the twenty-one UC Santa Barbara faculty members selected for the 2026-2027 Public Voices Fellowship.
April 28, 2026

Twenty-one faculty members will partner with The OpEd Project to translate their academic expertise into national impact

UC Santa Barbara is proud to announce the 21 faculty members selected for the 2026-2027 cohort of the Public Voices Fellowship. In partnership with The OpEd Project, this year-long initiative equips top scholars with the tools to translate their expertise into public impact, bridging the gap between academic inquiry and national discourse.

Building on the momentum of the program's first two years — which saw faculty publish more than 90 opinion pieces in major media outlets — this third cohort represents a diverse cross-section of disciplines, from materials science to Chicana and Chicano studies. The fellowship was originally championed by Daina Ramey Berry, the Michael Douglas Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts, to help faculty realize their potential as public thought leaders and change who writes history.

“Bringing this program to UC Santa Barbara was a personal mission because I know firsthand how transformative it is to see your research move from the classroom to the national stage,” Berry said. “With our third cohort, we are not just continuing a program; we are cementing a new culture of public engagement where our scholars are the ones defining the most critical conversations of our time. I am incredibly proud of the 90-plus op-eds our fellows have published over the last two years, proving that when we invest in our scholars, their collective impact can reach millions.”

Over the next year, these scholars will participate in four core convenings centered on Knowledge, Connection, Contagion and Legacy. Through these sessions, fellows will examine how to build consensus, how ideas spread and how to use their research to shape the future. They will also receive one-on-one mentorship from a dedicated coaching team of working journalists to craft compelling, evidence-based arguments that drive real-world change.

“Through this fellowship, we are working with some of the best minds in the world — with experts across a wide range of fields and backgrounds who have knowledge that can help solve big problems and drive great advances — not just for themselves, but for all of us,” said Katie Orenstein, founder and CEO of The OpEd Project. “Imagine the return for society if we continue to invest in our collective intelligence this way.”

Congratulations to the 2026-2027 Public Voices Fellows:

  • Colin Allen, Philosophy

  • Lucy Arellano, Education

  • Natchee Blu Barnd, History of Art and Architecture and Indigenous Studies

  • Simon Billinge, Materials and California NanoSystems Institute

  • Amy Boddy, Biological Anthropology

  • Kerem Camsari, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Mattanjah de Vries, Chemistry and Biochemistry

  • Ranjit Deshmukh, Environmental Science and Management

  • Gaye Theresa Johnson, Black Studies and Blum Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy

  • Ross Melnick, Film and Media Studies

  • Julia Morse, Political Science

  • Lisa Parks, Film and Media Studies

  • Yao Qin, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • AJ Rice, Political Science

  • Sarah Roberts, Mathematics Education

  • Jonathan Schooler, Psychological and Brain Sciences

  • shola shodiya, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology

  • Miriam Thompson, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology

  • Ty Vernon, Clinical Psychology and Koegel Autism Center

  • Althea Wasow, Film and Media Studies

  • Priscilla Solis Ybarra, Chicana and Chicano Studies