Urban Design & Planning Interdisciplinary Ph.D.

Faculty

CORE FACULTY

Dan Abramson, Urban Design and Planning
DUP 1998, Tsinghua University
Urban identity, conservation and design; housing and community development; urban studies in emergent/resurgent market economies and transnational communities
Email: abramson@uw.edu

Arthur Acolin, Runstad Department of Real Estate
Ph.D. 2017, University of Southern California
Housing economics, international housing policy and finance.
Email: acolin@uw.edu

Marina Alberti, Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 1992, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Environmental planning, urban ecology, impact assessment, geographic information systems
Email: malberti@u.washington.edu

Christine Bae, Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 1994, University of Southern California
Transportation planning, growth management and land use planning, community development
Email: cbae@u.washington.edu

Jeff Ban, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Ph.D. 2005, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Transportation network system modeling and simulation; urban traffic system modeling and operations; intelligent transportation systems (ITS)
Email: banx@uw.edu

Rachel Berney, Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 2008, University of California, Berkeley
Community sustainable design and development in an international context; urban design and planning history and theory with an emphasis on social and environmental factors; and qualitative and quantitative research methods for evaluating the efficacy of urban form, including challenges of cross-cultural research
Email: rberney@uw.edu

Branden Born, Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 2003, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Planning process and social justice, particularly with regard to the inclusion of marginalized populations in societal decision-making; land use planning and regionalism; urban food systems planning and policy.
Email: bborn@u.washington.edu

Ann Bostrom, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance
Ph.D. 1990, Carnegie Mellon University
Risk perception, communication, and management; and environmental policy and decision making
Email: abostrom@u.washington.edu

Christopher Campbell, Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 2002, UCLA
Community processes and structures, social and place identity, participatory and democratic planning processes, planning education
Email: ccamp1@u.washington.edu

Manish Chalana, Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 2005, University of Colorado
Historic preservation planning, international planning and development; and urban history
Email: chalana@uw.edu

Cynthia Chen, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Ph.D. 2001, University of California, Davis
Infrastructure and smart cities, engineering and health, large-scale human mobility and urban analysis, social and physical systems, resilient systems.
Email: qzchen@u.washington.edu

Kyle Crowder, Sociology
Ph.D. 1997, State University of New York, Albany
The dynamics and consequences of residential stratification
Email: kylecrow@uw.edu

Sofia Dermisi, Real Estate
Doctor of Design Studies 2002, Harvard University
Understanding the evolution of office markets and the effect of internal and external shocks, focusing on major downtown locations, with three areas of emphasis: sustainability, disasters (terrorism, life – safety issues) and market analysis
Email: sdermisi@u.washington.edu

Elaine Faustman, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS)
Ph.D. 1980, Michigan State University
Developmental toxicology, risk assessment methodologies, toxicology of N-nitroso compounds
Email: faustman@u.washington.edu

Jon E. Froehlich, Associate Professor, Allen School of Computer Science
Ph.D. 2011, University of Washington
Accessibility, urban informatics, environmental sustainability, and STEM education.
Email: jonf@cs.uw.edu

Himanshu Grover, Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D., AICP, Texas A&M University
Urban sustainability and climate change, hazard mitigation and community resiliency, and environmental planning
Email: groverh@u.washington.edu

David Layton, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance
Ph.D. 1995, University of Washington
Environmental and natural resource policy
Email: dflayton@u.washington.edu

Don MacKenzie, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Ph.D. 2013, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Transportation energy demand; electric vehicle charging behavior; vehicle automation; policy evaluation
Email: dwhm@u.washington.edu

John Marzluff, Forest Resources
Ph.D. 1987, Northern Arizona University
Wildlife habitat relationships, avian ecology, animal behavior, conservation biology, endangered species recovery
Email: corvid@u.washington.edu

David Montgomery, Earth and Space Sciences
Ph.D. 1991, University of California, Berkeley
Evolution of topography and the influence of geomorphological processes on ecological systems and human societies
Email: bigdirt@uw.edu

Monika Moskal, School of Forest Resources, College of the Environment
Ph.D. 2005, University of Kansas
As director of the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Laboratory(RSGAL), her research goal is to understand multiscale and multidimensional dynamics of landscape change through the application of remote sensing, GIS and geospatial tools.
Email: lmmoskal@uw.edu

Gundula Proksch, Architecture

Mark Purcell, Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 1998, UCLA
Urban, political, economic, and social geography; citizenship and democracy; urban social movements, especially Los Angeles and Seattle
Email: mpurcell@u.washington.edu

Qing Shen, (Director of Ph.D. Program),Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 1993, University of California, Berkeley
Urban economics, transportation planning, statistical methods and geographic information systems; alternative patterns of urban growth and the ways in which information technologies are shaping cities; effects of new and shared mobility services
Email: qs@u.washington.edu

Jan Whittington, Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 2008, University of California, Berkeley
Understanding the economic and environmental consequences of large scale infrastructure projects, comprehensive planning and implementation.
Email: janwhit@uw.edu


 

AFFILIATE FACULTY

Joel Baker, Environmental Science, UW Tacoma
Ph.D. 1988, University of Minnesota
The transport of organic contaminants in the environment, specifically atmospheric transport and deposition, aerosol chemistry, the dynamics of contaminant transport in estuaries, and modeling the exposure and transfer of bioaccumulative chemicals in aquatic food webs
Email: jebaker@u.washington.edu

Linda Ng Boyle, Industrial and Systems Engineering & Civil & Environmental Engineering
Ph.D. 1998, University of Washington
Driving behavior, crash countermeasures, crash and safety analysis, and statistical modeling
Email: linda@uw.edu

Kam Wing Chan, Geography
Ph.D. 1988, University of Toronto
Urban and economic geography; migration; labor market, urban finance; China
Email: kwchan@uw.edu

Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen, Urban Design and Planning/Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
PhD 2020, Aarhus University
Environmental health, urban sustainability and  spatial planning, climate change, remote sensing,  geographic information systems, data science
Email: kthchen@uw.edu

Patrick Christie, School of Marine Affairs & Jackson School of International Studies
Ph.D. 1999, University of Michigan
Climate change & ocean acidification, coastal zone, ecosystem & resource management, environmental protection & restoration, policy process & analysis, sustainability science
Email: patrickc@uw.edu

Alison Cullen, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance
ScD 1992, Harvard University
Environmental risk analysis, environmental science and policy, quantitative uncertainty analysis, statistical decision theory
Email: alison@u.washington.edu

Andrew Dannenberg, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS)
MD, Stanford University, MPH, Johns Hopkins University
Health aspects of community design, including land use, transportation, urban planning, climate change and other issues related to the built environment.
Email: adannen@uw.edu

Nives Dolšak, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs
Ph.D. 2000, Indiana University, Bloomington
Climate change governance, environmental policy, environmental non-governmental organizations, civil society, policy process, sustainability science, equity and environmental justice.
Email: nives@uw.edu

Adam Drewnowski, Epidemiology and Medicine
Ph.D. 1977, Rockefeller University
Relationship between poverty and obesity and the links between obesity and diabetes rates in vulnerable populations
Email: adamdrew@u.washington.edu

Glen Duncan , Epidemiology
Ph.D. 1997, University of Tennessee
Relationships among cardiovascular fitness, body fatness, and metabolic disease (e.g., metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes); Lifestyle interventions involving increased habitual physical activity and/or exercise training and dietary modifications in the prevention and treatment of metabolic and cardiovascular disease; and, Non-biological determinants of physical activity and obesity (e.g., access, income, and the physical environment).
Email: duncag@u.washington.edu

Mark Ellis, Geography
Ph.D. 1988, Indiana University
Immigration, labor markets, race and ethnicity
Email: ellism@u.washington.edu

Sarah Elwood-Faustino, Geography
Ph.D. 2000, University of Minnesota
Geographic information systems, geovisualization, justice, mapping poverty, social stratification/inequality, urban studies
Email: selwood@uw.edu

James W. Harrington, Jr.Urban Studies, UW Tacoma; Geography
Ph.D. 1983, University of Washington
Economic geography, regional economic development, geography of labor
Email: jwh@u.washington.edu

Jeff Hou, Landscape Architecture
Ph.D. 2001, University of California, Berkeley
Community design, design activism, insurgent planning, democracy and public space, transcultural urbanism, Asian cities
Email: jhou@u.washington.edu

Bill Howe, Computer Science and Engineering; eScience Institute
Ph.D. 2007, Portland State University
Management of very large or very complex science data; data-intensive scalable computing, scientific databases, visualization, mashups, integration of ad hoc science data
Email: billhowe@cs.washington.edu

Phil Hurvitz, Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 2010, University of Washington
The relationship between physical activity and built environment at fine spatial and temporal scales
Email: phurvitz@uw.edu

Soo Hyung Kim, College of Forest Resources
Ph.D. 2001, University of California, Davis
Examining how plants interact with abiotic and biotic factors in the environment at scales from leaf to whole-plant through canopy and ecosystem
Email: soohkim@u.washington.edu

Timothy Larson, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Ph.D. 1976, University of Washington
Air Quality (Management Aspects), Atmospheric Chemistry, Measurement Methods for Atmospheric Aerosols, Precipitation Scavenging, Health Effects of Aerosols, Source/Receptor Models.
Email: tlarson@u.washington.edu

Joshua Lawler, College of Forest Resources
Ph.D. 2000, Utah State University
Conservation biology and landscape ecology. How human activities affect ecological systems at large spatial scales.
Email: jlawler@u.washington.edu

Miles Logsdon, Ocean and Fishery Sciences
Ph.D. 1997, University of Washington
Spatial pattern analysis in ecosystem sciences and the applications of Geographic Information Science (GIS) and Remote Sensing in ecosystem models
Email: mlog@u.washington.edu

Lynne Manzo, Landscape Architecture
Ph.D. 1994, City University of New York
The study of the interrelationships between people and their physical surroundings, including not only natural and built settings, but also the socio-cultural and political milieu that shape the appearance, meanings, and use of space
Email: lmanzo@u.washington.edu

Scott Meschke, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
Ph.D. 2001, University of North Carolina
Pathogen mobility, persistence, detection and control of pathogens in environmental media (Air, Water, Food, and Surfaces)
Email: jmeschke@u.washington.edu

Helen Pineo, Urban Design and Planning
PhD 2019, University College London
Healthy and sustainable urbanism, housing models for health and sustainability, climate impacts and health, evidence use by policy-makers, urban health indicators, equitable and inclusive design and planning models
Email: hspineo@uw.edu

Vikram Prakash, Architecture
Ph.D. 1994, Cornell University
Interdisciplinary perspectives of culture studies applied to architecture, non-western architecture, modernism and culture theory
Email: vprakash@u.washington.edu

Dorothy Reed, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Ph.D. 1980, Princeton University
Structural and wind engineering; the investigation of the resiliency and sustainability of civil infrastructure systems – both green and gray aspects- with particular emphasis on post-hurricane performance of power delivery systems
Email: reed@u.washington.edu

Clare Ryan, Forest Resources
Ph.D. 1996, University of Michigan
Natural resource policy processes and administration, natural resource conflict management
Email: cmryan@u.washington.edu

Brian Saelens, Pediatrics and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Ph.D. 1998, SUNY Buffalo
Pediatric obesity intervention, environmental and policy factors related to physical activity and diet
Email: bsaelens@u.washington.edu

Dylan Stevenson, Urban Design and Planning
PhD 2023, Cornell University
Indigenous Planning, Historic Preservation, Environmental Planning, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Restoration Planning and Management, Culture and Place, and Intergovernmental Collaborations
Email: dylste@uw.edu

Sandor Toth, Environmental & Forest Sciences
Ph.D. 2005, Pennsylvania State University
Developing quantitative decision support tools to aid forest and natural resource management
Email: toths@u.washington.edu

Rebecca J. Walter, Runstad Department of Real Estate
Ph.D. Geosciences (Urban Geography), 2012, Florida Atlantic University
Effect of housing policy on inequality and opportunity, housing barriers in the reentry process, geographical distribution of crime.
Email: rjwalter@uw.edu

Ruoniu (Vince) Wang, Runstad Department of Real Estate
PhD 2020, University of Florida
Residential mobility, community land trust, inclusionary housing, geography of inequality and opportunity
Email: vrwang@uw.edu

Thaisa Way, Landscape Architecture
Ph.D. 2005, Cornell University
The development of cultural landscapes, designed landscapes, and the emerging discipline of landscape preservation
Email: tway@u.washington.edu

Suzanne Withers, Geography
Ph.D. 1992, UCLA
Quantitative and longitudinal methods; poverty; urban housing; population; spatial demography
Email: swithers@u.washington.edu

Lingzi Wu, Construction Management
PhD 2020, University of Alberta
Connected and Resilient Infrastructure, Simulation-Enabled Data-Driven Decision Support Systems, Construction Informatics, and STEM Education
Email: lingwu@uw.edu

Ken Yocom, Landscape Architecture
Ph.D. 2007, University of Washington
Developing ecologically based design frameworks examining the relationships between natural and socio-economic processes that have created and support the patterns of our urban environments.
Email: kyocom@uw.edu

Michael G. Yost, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS)
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Tools and techniques to measure environmental and occupational exposures using electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet, visible and infrared light or lasers.
Email: airion@uw.edu

Bo Zhao, Geography
PhD 2015, Ohio State University
Humanistic GIS, Spatial misinformation, Social, ethical and cultural implications of geospatial technologies, and Urban studies
Email: zhaobo@uw.edu


EMERITUS FACULTY

Hilda Blanco, (Professor Emeritus), Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 1989, University of California, Berkeley
Land use planning, comprehensive planning, neighborhood planning, infrastructure, finance
Email: hblanco@u.washington.edu

Alan Borning, (Professor Emeritus), Computer Science & Engineering
Ph.D. 1979, Stanford University
Land use, transportation, and environmental modeling; human-computer interaction; constraint-based languages and systems
Email: borning@cs.washington.edu

Gordon Bradley, (Professor Emeritus), Forest Resources
Ph.D. 1986, University of Michigan
Foreign land use, urban forest interface studies, environmental planning
Email: gbradley@u.washington.edu

Stevan Harrell, (Professor Emeritus), Anthropology
Ph.D. 1974, Stanford University
Environmental anthropology, ecosystem resilience, family and demography, ethnicity and ethnic relations, material culture, translation; China and Taiwan
Email: stevehar@u.washington.edu

Donald H. Miller, (Professor Emeritus), Urban Design and Planning
Ph.D. 1973, University of California, Berkeley
Urban spatial structure, consumer behavior and demand for public services, planning theory and evaluation, urbanization processes
Email: millerd@u.washington.edu

Anne Vernez Moudon, (Professor Emeritus), Urban Design and Planning
Dr es Sc, 1987, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (Switzerland)
Urban design, city form and neighborhood studies, design research
Email: moudon@u.washington.edu

Richard O. Zerbe, (Professor Emeritus), Public Affairs
Ph.D. 1969, Duke University
Law and economics
Email: zerbe@u.washington.edu


DECEASED FACULTY

William B. Beyers, (Professor Emeritus), Geography
Ph.D. 1967, University of Washington
Regional science, economic geography, location theory, regional analysis
Email: beyers@u.washington.edu

Robert Mugerauer, College of Built Environments
Ph.D. 1973, University of Texas
Sustainability and the impact of technology in built and natural environments; values, social, and cultural factors in design and planning; theory and current research methods