Skip to content
    • About CED
    • Academics
    • For Students
    • CED
      • About CED
        • Community + Values
        • People at CED
        • Meet CED Alums
        • Our Spaces
        • Our History
        • Work at CED
        • Giving
        • Contact Us
      • Academics
        • Undergraduate Majors + Minors
        • Graduate Programs
        • Concurrent Graduate Degrees
        • Certificates
        • Summer Programs
        • Study Abroad
      • Admissions
        • Undergraduate Admissions
        • Graduate Admissions
        • Fees + Financial Aid
      • Undergraduate Advising
        • Newly Admitted Students
        • Forms + Policies
        • Major + Minor Requirements
        • Prepare for Graduation
        • Academic Progress Report
      • News + Events
        • News
        • Events
      • Research + Design
        • Affiliated Research Centers
        • Climate Solutions
        • Equity + Social Justice
        • Technology + Material Innovations
        • Design Excellence
        • Publications
        • Environmental Design Archives
        • Student Work
      • Student Resources
        • Student Organizations
        • Student Support
        • Awards, Scholarships, Fellowships
        • Academic Student Employment
        • Student Fees and Waivers
        • IT + Computing
        • Fabrication + Materials
        • Environmental Design Library
        • Building Safety
        • Facility Services
        • Careers + Opportunities
    • ARCH
      • About Architecture
        • Commitment to Diversity
        • Accreditation and Licensure
      • People
      • Degrees + Admissions
        • Master of Architecture (MArch)
        • Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD)
        • Master of Science in Architecture
        • PhD in Architecture
        • Bachelor of Arts
        • Minors
      • Gallery
      • Courses
      • Advising
    • LAND
      • About LAEP
      • People
      • Degrees + Admissions
        • Master of Landscape Architecture
        • PhD
        • Bachelor of Arts
        • Minor in Landscape Architecture
      • Gallery
      • Advising
    • CITY
      • About DCRP
      • People
      • Degrees + Admissions
        • Master of City Planning
        • PhD
        • Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies
        • Minor in City Planning
        • Minor in Geospatial Information Science & Technology
      • Gallery
      • Advising
    • IURD
      • About IURD
      • People
      • IURD Research Projects
      • Abbey Master of Real Estate Development + Design (MRED+D)
        • About Abbey MRED+D
        • Abbey MRED+D Admissions
        • Abbey MRED+D Courses
        • People
      • Master of Urban Design (MUD)
        • People
      • BA in Sustainable Environmental Design
      • Advising
  • CED
    • About CED
      • Community + Values
      • People at CED
      • Meet CED Alums
      • Our Spaces
      • Our History
      • Work at CED
      • Giving
      • Contact Us
    • Academics
      • Undergraduate Majors + Minors
      • Graduate Programs
      • Concurrent Graduate Degrees
      • Certificates
      • Summer Programs
      • Study Abroad
    • Admissions
      • Undergraduate Admissions
      • Graduate Admissions
      • Fees + Financial Aid
    • Undergraduate Advising
      • Newly Admitted Students
      • Forms + Policies
      • Major + Minor Requirements
      • Prepare for Graduation
      • Academic Progress Report
    • News + Events
      • News
      • Events
    • Research + Design
      • Affiliated Research Centers
      • Climate Solutions
      • Equity + Social Justice
      • Technology + Material Innovations
      • Design Excellence
      • Publications
      • Environmental Design Archives
      • Student Work
    • Student Resources
      • Student Organizations
      • Student Support
      • Awards, Scholarships, Fellowships
      • Academic Student Employment
      • Student Fees and Waivers
      • IT + Computing
      • Fabrication + Materials
      • Environmental Design Library
      • Building Safety
      • Facility Services
      • Careers + Opportunities
  • ARCH
    • About Architecture
      • Commitment to Diversity
      • Accreditation and Licensure
    • People
    • Degrees + Admissions
      • Master of Architecture (MArch)
      • Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD)
      • Master of Science in Architecture
      • PhD in Architecture
      • Bachelor of Arts
      • Minors
    • Gallery
    • Courses
    • Advising
  • LAND
    • About LAEP
    • People
    • Degrees + Admissions
      • Master of Landscape Architecture
      • PhD
      • Bachelor of Arts
      • Minor in Landscape Architecture
    • Gallery
    • Advising
  • CITY
    • About DCRP
    • People
    • Degrees + Admissions
      • Master of City Planning
      • PhD
      • Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies
      • Minor in City Planning
      • Minor in Geospatial Information Science & Technology
    • Gallery
    • Advising
  • IURD
    • About IURD
    • People
    • IURD Research Projects
    • Abbey Master of Real Estate Development + Design (MRED+D)
      • About Abbey MRED+D
      • Abbey MRED+D Admissions
      • Abbey MRED+D Courses
      • People
    • Master of Urban Design (MUD)
      • People
    • BA in Sustainable Environmental Design
    • Advising
  • About CED
  • Academics
  • For Students
  • About CED
  • Academics
  • For Students
BACK
BACK
Kelly Leilani Main
Linkedin

Kelly Leilani Main

PhD Candidate, Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning
Email
keleilani@berkeley.edu
Office Hours
Appointments by Zoom
Website(s)
Bu
https://www.kellyleilanimain.com
Office Hours
Appointments by Zoom
Website(s)
https://www.buy-in.org
https://www.kellyleilanimain.com
Email
keleilani@berkeley.edu

SPECIALIZATIONS

Climate change adaptation, wetland ecosystems, colonialism, North Africa, historical map analysis, GIS.

EDUCATION
Master of City Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018
Bachelor of Arts, UC Berkeley, 2014

BIOGRAPHY

Kelly Leilani Main is executive director and founder of Buy-In Community Planning, a 501c3 organization providing equitable and accessible voluntary relocation services for communities on the frontlines of irreversible climate impacts and industrial pollution. Before founding Buy-In, Main worked as a planner, designer, researcher, and geospatial analyst at the intersection of climate adaptation planning and human rights-driven relocation policy in contexts diverse as the Philippines, Turkey, Ghana, Uganda, Peru, Nepal, Lebanon, Palestine, and the U.S.

At UC Berkeley, her research focuses on the intersection of managed retreat and ecosystem restoration. More specifically, her research investigates the impacts of colonialism on wetlands and aims to provide strategies and theories in support of environmental reparations in post colonial states.

COURSES TAUGHT

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Colloquium: "Climate Migration and Displacement: What is the role of environmental design?", UC Berkeley, Spring 2024

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Colloquium: "Bridging Disciplinary Differences", UC Berkeley, Fall 2023

Environmental Science for Sustainable Development UC Berkeley Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental planning, Fall 2021, with G. Mathias Kondolf

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

UC Berkeley Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Sultan Program in Arab Studies, Research Grant, 2024-2025
UC Berkeley Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Al-Falah Program in Islamic Studies, Research Grant, 2024-2025
UC Berkeley Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Stevens Scholars Project, Research Grant, 2024
UC Berkeley Global Metropolitan Studies Summer Research Grant, 2024
UC Berkeley Social Sciences Research Matrix Research grant, 2022-2023
Regents Fellowship for Graduate Study, UC Berkeley, 2021-2023
Grist 50 #Fixers, 2021
Sasaki Foundation Community Design Award, 2019. - “Eastie for Eastie: A toolkit for managed retreat”
Guest co-editor for May 2018 Issue of FrankNews.us on Urban Planning
Aga Khan Summer Fellowship – June 2017: “Settlement-based approach” to humanitarian response in Beirut, Lebanon
Architect Magazine Studio Prize 2017 Winner (Urbanism After Extraction)
UC Berkeley Dean’s Honors: top 4% of the Letters and Science. Honors to 12/12, 05/13, 12/13, 5/14
High Honors from UC Berkeley Interdisciplinary Studies Field Department on Undergraduate Thesis Work

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Kelly Leilani MAIN, Joude MABSOUT, Rafi SEGAL, Nese DOGUSAN ALEXANDER, Olivia SERRA, Muge KOMURCU. Swap Strategy for Urban Resilience: Reviving the Ayamama River Corridor and Ataturk Decommissioned Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Landsc. Archit. Front., 2021, 9(6): 44‒58

Marandi, A. & Main, K. L. (2021).Vulnerable City, recipient city, or climate destination? Towards a typology of domestic climate migration impacts in US cities. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 11(3), 465–480.

Kelly Leilani Main, Miho Mazereeuw, Fadi Masoud, Jia Lu, Aditya Barve, Mayank Ojha, and Chetan Krishna. “Climate action zones: A clustering methodology for resilient spatial planning in climate uncertainty.” Enhancing Disaster Preparedness: From Humanitarian Architecture to Community Resilience. Edited by A. Nuno Martins, Mahmood Fayazi, Faten Kikano, and Liliane Hobeica, Eselvier, 2020, 241-248.

Eliyahu Keller & Kelly Leilani Main (2020). After the Flood: Water, Climate Crisis, and Architectural Imagination. Journal of Architectural Education, 74:1, 126-128, DOI: 10.1080/10464883.2020.1693838

Mark Scott, Mick Lennon, Daniel Tubridy, Patrick Marchman, A.R. Siders, Kelly Leilani Main, Victoria Herrmann, Debra Butler, Kathryn Frank, Karyn Bosomworth, Raphaele Blanchi & Cassidy Johnson (2020), Climate Disruption and Planning: Resistance or Retreat?, Planning Theory & Practice, 21:1, 125-154, DOI: 10.1080/14649357.2020.1704130

Bellotti Giovanni, Main Kelly Leilani, Diana Ang, et al. The Civic Forest. Landscape Architecture Frontiers., 2018, 6(6): 102-109. https://journal.hep.com.cn/laf/EN/10.15302/J-LAF-20180613

Main, Kelly Leilani. (2015). Bombing the Tomb: Memorial Portraiture and Street Art in Revolutionary Cairo. Berkeley Undergraduate Journal, 28(1). our_buj_25789. Retrieved from:

Other Publications & Reports

Kelly Leilani Main, Risa Hiser, Victoria Woods, Osamu Kumasaka, Maggie Tsang, and Isaac Stein. “What do we do with the land left behind? Exploratory Scenario Planning for Floodplain buyout parcels.” Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. August 2022.

Anna Marandi and Kelly Leilani Main, “The Next American migration: What Cities Should Know About Climate Change and Populations on the Move” National League of Cities, 2022.
“Forced from Home: A Human Rights Assessment of Displacement and Evictions in Boston’s Chinatown.” MIT Displacement Research Action Network. (2019)

“Starter Communities: Rural Urbanism in Cavite Province, Philippines.” MIT Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism. (2019)

Main, Kelly. Limitations of the Owner-Driven Reconstruction Model in Nepal. MIT Displacement Research Action Network Blog. April 23, 2018.

Photo Modal

Berkeley home page

230 Bauer Wurster Hall #1820 Berkeley, CA 94720-1820

230 Bauer Wurster Hall #1820 | Berkeley, CA 94720-1820

  • Contact
  • Work at CED
  • Faculty + Staff
  • Linkedin
  • Accessibility
  • Land Acknowledgment
  • Privacy
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Credits

© 2025 UC Regents; all rights reserved.

    • DONATE NOW
    • ARCH
    • CITY
    • LAND
    • IURD
Berkeley home page
  • ARCH
  • CITY
  • LAND
  • IURD
  • DONATE NOW
  • Contact
  • Work at CED
  • Faculty + Staff

230 Bauer Wurster Hall #1820 Berkeley, CA 94720-1820

  • Accessibility
  • Land Acknowledgment
  • Privacy
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Credits

© 2025 UC Regents; all rights reserved.