noelle romero guarin was born and raised on the unceded land of the Tongva peoples, also known as Carson, California. She comes from a lineage of land stewards, herbalists, and teachers by way of La Union and Pangasinan on the archipelago known as the Philippines.

noelle’s relationship to plants became fortified while living on the unceded land of the Ohlone peoples, also known as Oakland, California. Navigating personal experiences with familial transitions, capitalist educational structures, and state-organized violence led to periods of deep grief and disembodiment. Connecting to plants through ancestral foods and herbal medicine offered a spiritual nourishment that ultimately brought her back in her body.

Plants as teachers have guided her responsibilities as an educator, cultural cook, and herbalist. noelle was the director of expanded learning at Oakland International High School where she collaborated with refugee and migrant youth to create diverse healing-centered afterschool programming. noelle facilitated Malunggay Magic, a culinary workshop designed for storytelling and reclaiming bodies of knowledge through food, at social justice gatherings throughout the Bay Area. Most recently, noelle was kako’o (support) at Roots Cultural Food Hub and Cafe in the ahupua’a of Kalihilihiolaumiha on the island of O’ahu where she worked with local farmers and community leaders to promote Indigenous sovereignty, address food insecurity, and organize various food is medicine programming. She is grateful to these lands and her mentors for the wisdom they have imparted.

noelle holds a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley and Certificate in Herbal Medicine Studies from Ancestral Apothecary. This fall, she joins New York University’s MA Food Studies program where she will archive preservations of ancestral plants and land-based practices as tools for well-being and intercultural solidarity-building throughout the Filipino diaspora.