David Ralston

Oakland

After obtaining a master’s degree in city planning and architecture, David received his doctorate in cultural geography from UCLA, based on research of place-water and the cultural (re)formation of Los Angeles from the modern to postmodern periods. David has led an urban gardening and greening nonprofit, worked for 15 years as a community development planner for the City of Oakland, and is currently the manager of community engagement for the regional government (Air District) in the San Francisco Bay Area. David enjoys the interaction of teaching and also works as an adjunct professor of sustainable planning, urban environment, and community development. He teaches regularly at Merritt College as a fellow of the Brower-Dellums Institute for Sustainable Policy Studies and has taught course series at San Jose State University and UC Berkeley. David lives with his family in Oakland, California.