Dylan Green is a 2nd year physics Ph.D. student who recently ran for Irvine City Council in the 2020 election. Here at UCI, he works in the field of cosmology. Dylan says he has always been interested in the history of the universe and trying to understand the way it is. Cosmology to Dylan is the best way to understand and expand our knowledge of the mystery of life. Currently he studies cosmic rays alongside deep learning in order to explore new ways to solve physical problems, both within and potentially outside the subfield of cosmology. Dylan’s main professional end goal is to become a professor. However, his experience in local politics has inspired him to want to make an impact on the world, and leave it better than how he found it, whatever form that may take.
In the 2020 election, Dylan ran for one of the 4 seats on the Irvine City Council (although only two seats were up for election this cycle excluding the mayoral spot). The Irvine City Council, in general, approves all developmental projects in the city, sets budgets, and governs the city. Dylan decided to run for a variety of reasons, but says they all stem from the same desire: to see a government that works for all of us. He had considered running as early as 2016, after listening to Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally here in Irvine. Dylan remembers when Bernie Sanders made the point that if you want true change it starts at the local level. This inspired Dylan to eventually try and be the change that he wanted to see in the world. But in 2016 Dylan was not a citizen and therefore not able to get his name on the ballot. In 2020, Dylan became a citizen and decided to run for city council. The Irvine City Council has been historically run by the same half a dozen or so people for nearly twenty years, so Dylan thought it was about time for someone newer, younger, and more imaginative. He says the campaign itself was quite fun and that he learned a lot of things regarding campaign finance law, the Irvine city council itself, the value of networking, and selling himself. Dylan states that the most enjoyable part was meeting and talking to people on the campaign trail. He made friends with a few of the other candidates and he found speaking to them to be illuminating and educational. He also had a lot of opportunities to talk to voters on the campaign trail which allowed him to make friends and learn about what people want out of this city. Dylan recalls one of the best and most humbling moments during the campaign was when he was asked to talk to a 5th grade class about running for office. They were doing a mock election and invited Dylan to talk about himself and his campaign. When it came to their mock vote, Dylan won! At the end of the campaign, Dylan says he learned a lot and is eternally grateful for the people who supported him. It was also enlightening and humbling to Dylan to learn so many people supported his vision for the city and our local government.
When asked about hobbies, Dylan jokingly says he has a ‘hobby of collecting hobbies’. He maintains three podcasts, one of which releases weekly and the other two swap off weekly and the biweekly. In his free time he engages in film photography and enjoys watching movies. He is also interested in baking. Mid-quarantine he started baking a pie every week, which developed into an endeavor to see how many weeks continuously he can go without repeating pies flavors. He usually bakes each Wednesday, with this past week being a peanut-butter and chocolate pie. For work-life balance, Dylan says he says it’s been especially hard to maintain this balance when all of his time is spent at his desk at home. To combat this, he makes every effort not to have to do any work on the weekend so that he can use that time to unwind and engage in some of his hobbies. Dylan also tries to keep physically active, which personally has helped him keep on top of everything. In addition, each evening he also tries to take some time off while watching movies with his roommate to give both of them a break from the constant work cycle they have fallen into while working at home.
