is from the Imperial Valley. In 2021, she graduated from UC Davis with a BA in Chicanx Studies. During her time in the UC Davis MURALS program, Mayra began researching death rituals and ceremonies in Chicanx and Latinx communities. Her research focuses on how Chicanx and Latinx communities have used communal and private ceremonial practices around death and spiritual transitions. Her research interests include: deconstructing death narratives which come from a western epistemology, decolonizing spirit, indigenous ceremonies, and healing from colonial trauma