Aneesa Gomez-Cervantes is a third-year PhD student with the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA researching water governance and finance in California under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Her dissertation examines how decentralized groundwater institutions reproduce or reduce inequity through their fiscal structures. Using financial analysis, spatial equity mapping, and institutional risk modeling, her work connects groundwater sustainability planning to broader questions of governance capacity, affordability, and environmental justice in California.

She is currently working with the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation on an SB 1157 project evaluating water demand forecasting, economic impacts, and affordability implications of new water use efficiency standards across California. Her previous research includes work with the Collaboratory for Equity in Water Allocation (COEQWAL) analyzing equitable water access through CalSim modeling, and the NSF-funded Advanced Studies Institute in International Approaches to Drought and Groundwater Management, where she conducted comparative research in Spain, the Netherlands, and California.

Before beginning her doctoral studies, Aneesa worked as a Hazardous Materials Specialist for the County of Orange Environmental Health Division. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Science and Policy with a minor in Global Sustainability from UC Irvine.