Celina Balderas Guzman

• Bachelor of Science in Art & Design, MIT; Master in City Planning, MIT
• Master of Science in Architecture Studies, MIT

Scott Elder

• Bachelors of Architecture, University of Oregon
• Masters of Science in Architecture and Urban Design, Columbia University

I am interested in how the impulse to commemorate can play out within the disciplines of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design. Particularly when addressing some movement on a vast scale, I am curious how collective memory is crystalized into institutional goals and structures, and also how this scenario might catalyze design decisions at a metropolitan scale.

Daniella Hirschfeld

• Bachelor of Arts, Dartmouth College
• Master of Environmental Management, Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment

I am interested in transformations of complex social and ecological systems in the context of climate change.  My research generally involves geospatial analysis and climate change adaptation.  My current research project focuses on: 1) the identification of harbingers of change; 2) the modeling of niche projects at the regional scale; and 3) analyzing regional strategies that could be used to trigger development path shifts.

Yang Ju

• Bachelor of Engineering in Urban Planning, Nanjing University
• Master of Landscape Architecture (focusing on Environmental Planning), University of California Berkeley

Geospatial analysis, nighttime light remote sensing, vulnerability to environmental disasters.

Nate Kauffman

• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, UC San Diego
• Masters in Landscape Architecture, UC Berkeley

Sarah Lindbergh

• Bachelor in Geography, University of Montpellier III
• Master in Territories, Society, Planning & Development, University of Montpellier III

My interests lie in weather-related disaster risk reduction. I have experience with flooding, landslide and more recently with wildfire hazards. I am currently researching critical infrastructure network vulnerability with emphasis on the interdependency of the transportation energy system in California. I seek to map current risk governance gaps derived from misalignments between landscape-scale hazard processes (firesheds and watersheds), network-scale exposure of stakeholders due to their high dependence on interconnected critical infrastructure, and climate change adaptation and disaster mitigation policies. Crisis management, stakeholder outreach, geospatial analysis, and network science are the main tools I have been focusing on to tackle these problems.

Jennifer Natali

• Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Smith College
• Masters in Landscape Architecture, UC Berkeley

I study the interactions of water, sediment, plants and climate in montane meadow ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada in California. In my research, I hope to inform restoration and planning by revealing underlying processes and mechanisms operating across regional, watershed, and meadow scales. 

Specializations:  geomorphology, hydrology, plant ecology, remote sensing and terrain analysis.

Kanokwalee Suteethorn

• Bachelor of Architecture at Silpakorn University, Thailand
• Master of Landscape Architecture, University of Washington

I am interested in ecological, social, and economic values of urban environments and how humans perceive these values in these rapidly changing societies. My current research focused on cultural values of urban forests. I focused particularly on temple gardens and religious belief and their relationship with culture and nature in local contexts. I explored the way in which religious rituals, spiritual beliefs, and other community involvement activities turn intangible values of trees into the sacredness of places and how the temple landscapes affected urban forests citywide.

Anneliese Sytsma

• Bachelor of Science in Civil & Environmental Engineering, Seattle University
• Master of Science in Environmental Engineering, UC Berkeley

Sophie Taddeo

• Bachelor of Science, Department of Environmental Geography, Université de Montréal
• Master of Science, Department of Plant Sciences, McGill University

In my work, I strive to address challenges pertaining to wetland restoration through the lens of landscape ecology. My chief focus is directed toward finding how long-term resiliency and diversity of restored ecosystems can be better integrated within broader urban and agricultural landscapes.

J. Vicente Tinoco Ochoa

• Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Universidad de Cuenca
• Master of Science in Water Resources Engineering, University of Leuven

I work on rivers. After reaching an understanding and practical level of environmental fluid mechanics for designing water infrastructures, I realized about a need for understanding environmental sediment fluxes, aquatic ecology connectivity, and their interactions with infrastructure. Therefore, I study sediment connectivity and water infrasturcture at the watershed scale. My goal is to contribute with innovations for using water from rivers, while decreasing environmental impacts.

Janet Torres

• Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Master of Science in Water Management & Hydrological Sciences at Texas A&M University at College Station

Janet’s primary research interests are climate change adaptation, multi-level governance, and sustainable development. She believes research in these topics requires an integrative and transdisciplinary strategy and uses a mixed methods approach to her own research, integrating physical geography, policy analysis, and ethnography within a relevant historical context. Her current research is on the development trajectory of the Republic of Cuba and the role of culture in improving the adaptive capacity of communities.

Sooyeon Yi

• Bachelor of Science in Hydrology, UC Davis
• Master of Science in Hydrology, UC Davis