Michael Bakal, M,Ed, M.PH, Ph.D is a visiting scholar at UC Santa Cruz and a co-founder of Voces y Manos por el Buen Vivir. With Voces y Manos, Michael has 18 years of experience working on projects connected to agroecology, action-research, youth development, health promotion, and human rights. As Director of Voces y Manos' action research team, Michael is currently working on several projects examining the learning and teaching processes involved in the transition to agroecology. For his dissertation, Michael developed a methodological framework for integrating Indigenous knowledge and Western science in agroecology promotion programs. He is also involved in an international effort, based at the Intercultural Maya University of Quintana Roo, to develop a set of principles and values to guide processes of knowledge co-creation among Western researchers and Indigenous communities.
His academic work has been published in Health Promotion International, NPJ-Climate Action, and Mind, Culture, and Activity, where he also serves on the editorial board. He also writes articles for the popular press on Guatemalan politics, sustainability, and migration policy, and his op-eds have appeared in the Sacramento Bee, Truthout, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Michael previously worked as a high school teacher in Los Angeles. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, running, farming, and playing Afro-Cuban percussion.
