PASSFL Scientific Advisors

  • Dr. Frank Von Hippel

    Frank von Hippel, PhD

    Dr. von Hippel is a professor of environmental health sciences in the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the lead of the One Health Research Initiative at the University of Arizona.

  • Marco Kaltofen

    Marco Kaltofen, PhD

    Dr. Kaltofen is a Massachusetts-licensed civil engineer and the principal at Boston Chemical Data Corp. His research area is the study of nuclear forensics.

  • Leryn Gorlitsky, PhD

    Leryn Gorlitsky, PhD

    Dr. Gorlitsky is a lecturer at UCLA in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department for the past 10 years, offering courses that specialize in Restoration Ecology.

  • Nicholas Spada, PHD

    Nicholas Spada, PHD

    Dr. Spada is a scientist with the Air Quality Research Center at the University of California, Davis which operates the CSN and IMPROVE air monitoring networks.

  • Tevin Schmitt

    Tevin Schmitt

    Tevin Schmitt’s work as a watershed scientist for the Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation has focused on the protection and restoration of the Santa Clara River, in addition to SoCal beaches, watersheds, and wetlands,

  • Dr. Robert Didge

    Dr. Robert Dodge

    Dr. Bob Dodge is a family physician practicing in Ventura, California.  He is the Co-Chair of the Security Committee of Physicians for Social Responsibility - USA

PASSFL leadership team

  • Melissa Bumstead, Co-Director, Founder

    Melissa became an accidental activist for the SSFL cleanup after her four year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia in 2014. In her previous life she was a stay-at-home mom, before that, a graphic designer. She lives in West Hills with her husband, daughter, son, dogs, cats and chickens. She believes that it should be a basic human right to live in an uncontaminated environment.

  • Dr. Martita Martinez-Bravo, Cultural Advisor

    Dr. Martinez-Bravo has not only been a vital resource for PASSFL but also serves as Councilmember for the City of Camarillo. She is the Executive Director of Friends of Fieldworkers and is a powerful voice for justice and equity in our community. She resides in Ventura County with her husband and three children.

  • Seti Cane, Research Consultant

    Seti is a recent graduate of Lewis and Clark College and attended UCSC for their undergrad. Having previously worked at Committee to Bridge the Gap, she has in-depth knowledge about the SSFL. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her puppy, Little Meatball, and their wife, Angie. Seti recently passed the bar in Oregon.

  • Jeni Knack, Co-Director

    Jeni jumped into activism for the SSFL cleanup after learning that her drinking water could have as much as 67% well water mixed in, contaminated by the Santa Susana Field Lab. She’s a well-known face in the community as she collected nearly 400 soil samples from local homes after the Woolsey Fire. She holds a degree in Anthropology from UCLA and lives in Simi Valley with her husband and daughter.

  • Lauren Hammersely, Community Advocate

    Lauren lives with her husband and four children in Simi Valley. Since her daughter Hazel’s cancer diagnosis in 2013 and subsequent passing in 2018, Lauren has worked tirelessly as an advocate and fundraiser for childhood cancer and environmental justice. She also helped found Parents Against the Santa Susana Field Lab.

  • Marissa Lopez, Community Organizing Consultant

    Marisa lives in Oxnard with her husband, son, and daughter who has glioblastoma brain cancer. Marisa formerly worked at United Way as the Volunteer Director. She served as a leader in loal, state, and national Volunteer Management coalitions including the Points of Light Foundation and California Volunteers.

  • Denise Duffied, Senior Advisor

    Denise is the Associate Director for Physicians for Social Responsibility- Los Angeles (PSR-LA.) Denise leads PSR-LA’s efforts to fully clean up the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), a contaminated nuclear and rocket-engine testing site near Los Angeles. She also serves with Back from the Brink, a national grassroots campaign that brings communities together to abolish nuclear weapons.

  • Alexandra Arneri, Legal and Policy Adviser

    Alexandra Arneri is a Partner at Cittone Demers & Arneri LLP, where she practices media and corporate law and maintains a pro bono human rights practice. She also produces and presents Gravity FM, a podcast on planetary health and human rights and is the President of Global Witness Foundation, supporting human rights investigation and advocacy.

Mission Statement

By advocating for the complete remediation of the Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL), site of one of America’s worst nuclear accidents, Parents Against SSFL aims to protect nearby communities from exposure to the site’s toxic and carcinogenic contamination. Parents Against SSFL was founded by mothers of children diagnosed with rare cancers and seeks to reduce, to the greatest extent possible, the number of local families who have to hear the words, “Your child has cancer.”

VALUES

  • Cancer doesn’t discriminate - neither does Parents Against SSFL. We engage in meaningful relationships with people of all backgrounds and value systems.

  • We are a strictly nonpartisan group.

  • We prioritize people and relationships.

  • We always “take the high road” and stay true to the good people we are.

  • Though we focus on work surrounding the SSFL, we actively engage with many toxic-sister-sites across California and the US.

Work we do

  • Holding SSFL’s Responsible Parties, Elected Officials, DTSC, and CalEPA accountable for the complete cleanup of the SSFL.

  • Disseminating complex scientific information into accurate, accessible, and engaging content for the public through graphics, social media, art, and other creative methods.

  • Educating, organizing, and empowering the public about the SSFL.

  • Protecting local watersheds from SSFL pollution.

  • Monitoring air pollution from the SSFL. 

  • Protecting other communities from any mismanagement of SSFL toxic or radioactive waste.

  • Collaborating with NGOs and coalitions to bring lasting and meaningful reform to government regulating agencies.Supporting toxic-sister-sites in California and across the globe.

  • Advocating for renewable energy solutions to prevent nuclear accidents and nuclear waste from harming other communities in the future.

Elected support

CURRENT ELECTED OFFICIAL SUPPORTERS

  • Senator Alex Padilla

  • Senator Adam Schiff

  • Congresswoman Julia Brownley

  • Congressman Brad Sherman

  • California State Senator Henry Stern

  • State Assembly Member Jesse Gabriels

  • State Assembly Member Steve Bennet

  • Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass

  • Los Angeles City Councilmember John Lee

  • Los Angeles Supervisor Lindsay Horvath

  • Ventura County Supervisor Janice Parvin

  • Ventura County Supervisor Vianey Lopez

  • Ventura County Supervisor Matt Lavere

  • Ventura County Supervisor Jeff Gorell