I am an early-career environmental social scientist studying how communities adapt to emerging compound hazards through governance and population change. My doctoral work focuses on how adaptation governance shapes migratory responses to flooding in a range of geographies. I am training in mixed methods to investigate climate change adaptation and population change to inform community responses and planning.

I’m affiliated with the UNC Flood Hydrology and Hazards Lab, the Carolinas Collaborative on Climate, Health, and Equity, and the American Geophysical Union Thriving Earth Exchange.

Prior to doctoral studies, I earned undergrad degrees in environmental science and government and worked for the City of Austin as an applied geographer and data analyst. I hail from Central Texas. Tacos, live music, and oak-juniper canyonlands give me life.

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I conduct research on planning in the context of the Global South, committed to fostering environmental justice and health equity through scientific study and community engagement. My academic and fieldwork experiences across East and Southern African nations have sharpened my focus on settlement environments, spatial practices, and child health. I work at the intersection of infrastructures, climate change, and epidemiology, emphasizing human-environment interactions at multiple scales. My particular interest lies in the water, sanitation, and energy sectors, aiming to create climate-resilient and healthy communities through structural and behavioral transformations. My ongoing research integrates demographic and health surveys, earth observation data, and ground-level investigations to achieve a comprehensive understanding of settlement environments and their impacts on health within the diverse geographies of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia.

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Megan McIntyre is a second-year PhD student in the City and Regional Planning Depar. Her comparative research agenda focuses on questions of identity, immigration, and local processes. Serving her international research interests, she is currently studying Arabic at UNC as a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship recipient and was a Critical Language Scholarship finalist in Morocco during the summer of 2022.

She joined UNC-CH after receiving an M.Sc. in International Planning from University College London (UCL) where she specialized in urban design and conducted a comparative research project considering medical anchor institutions in Canada, the US, and the UK. Before attending UCL, she obtained a master’s in Social Policy, Employment, and Welfare at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona where her thesis focused on public space in the context of a gentrified Barcelona neighborhood. Rooted in the US South, Megan completed her undergraduate studies closer to home at the University of Florida, obtaining a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies.

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Focus: Energy Planning

Hometown: Mulpani (Kathmandu), Nepal

Previous Degrees: Energy Systems Planning, Mechanical Engineering

 

 

Kshitiz says: I pursue research on the applications of machine learning and geospatial analytics in energy and environmental planning. I have degrees in energy planning and mechanical engineering from Kathmandu University. Professor Nikhil Kaza is my advisor. I was involved in the Department’s Carolina Tracker project in which we tracked North Carolina’s post-COVID economic recovery in an online dashboard: https://carolinatracker.unc.edu. I have been involved as a teaching assistant in courses such as Planning Methods, Urban Analytics with R, Personal Finance, and Intro to Environment and Society. Before coming to UNC, I worked at Kathmandu Living Labs as an open data and development researcher. I co-founded Open Knowledge Nepal, a non-profit open data and open technology development and advocacy organization based in Kathmandu, Nepal in which I currently serve as the board chair. I have also practiced mechanical design consulting and research in low carbon and appropriate technology such as low head hydro power plants in Nepal. Outside my work, I can be found playing and watching football (soccer), hiking, dabbling with calligraphy, and sipping the Himalayan Silver Tips tea.

 

Website: https://kshitizkhanal.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kshitizkhanal/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kshitizkhanal7

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=fRsXJ7wAAAAJ&hl=en

Github: https://github.com/kshitizkhanal7

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Specialization: Land Use and Environmental Planning 

Hometown: Seoul, S. Korea, Syracuse, NY

Previous degrees: Bachelors of Applied Statistics and BA English Language and Literature – Chung-Ang University (CAU), MA Computational Media – Duke University

 

Jo’s previous work on “The Use of Geographic Information System for the Adaptive Reuse of Historical Sites: A Study of the Durham Belt Line Trail,” which is about the adaptive reuse of the Durham Belt Line, led her to Carolina Planning. Her research interests reside in visualizations as a tool to support climate action plans. She is currently the managing editor of Carolina Planning Journal’s blog, Angles, and serves on the PhD Policy Committee. In her previous years, Jo was a Weiss fellow engaging in Urban Livability seminars, an Adams fellow creating projects engaging with the local community, and a member of the Community Workshop Series providing computer fundamentals in local libraries in the triangle.

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Specialization: Sustainable & Just Energy Transitions

Hometown: Camarillo, CA

Previous Degrees: BA Communication Studies – University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) ‘14, Master of Environmental Management – Duke University ’20

Amanda’s interest in doctoral research arose from her exposure to challenges of energy systems development in Latin America during her masters work at Duke University, where she concentrated on Energy and the Environment and completed certificates in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and International Development Policy. In a summer course in Geneva, she spoke to a representative from the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) who inspired her consideration of how doctoral research might help to address inequities that arise from global and local changes in energy systems. Today her work seeks to understand how to best support a just energy transition in La Guajira, Colombia, a department that is rich in both fossil fuels and renewable energy resources and highly vulnerable to contractions in global demand for coal.

Amanda credits her two advisors, Dr. Noah Kittner and Dr. Allie Thomas, for her interest in Carolina Planning. Their international experience and individual expertises in energy modeling and ethnographic research on transportation planning spoke to Amanda’s own interests in conducting mixed methods research on energy transitions in the context of Latin America. Since her time in the program, she has found them both to be incredibly engaged with her work and dedicated to her growth as a planning scholar.

In the department, Amanda works with Carolina Planning as the Communications Assistant, which allows her to engage with faculty and students across the department to share their research and accomplishments. She also serves as a Doctoral Teaching Assistant for courses like Planning Law, Solving Urban Problems, and Research Methods. Outside of her research, her time leading recitations and labs has been some of her most gratifying work during her degree, as she has found Carolina Planning students to be highly engaged in their studies and excited to learn how their work can apply to today’s greatest planning issues.

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What got you interested in planning?

I’m interested in how to solve the problems that occur in city, making city a happy place to live is a wonderful job.

What’s your favorite project that you’ve worked on?

I do like how to predict the land use through some technique methods, combining urban planning with some great logic.

What future goals do you have for your specialization?

I want to become a teacher in land use and environmental planning, doing some research while teach more students to help design the city.

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Economic Development

Megan McIntyre is a second-year PhD student in the City and Regional Planning Depar. Her comparative research agenda focuses on questions of identity, immigration, and local processes. Serving her international research interests, she is currently studying Arabic at UNC as a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship recipient and was a Critical Language Scholarship finalist in Morocco during the summer of 2022.

She joined UNC-CH after receiving an M.Sc. in International Planning from University College London (UCL) where she specialized in urban design and conducted a comparative research project considering medical anchor institutions in Canada, the US, and the UK. Before attending UCL, she obtained a master’s in Social Policy, Employment, and Welfare at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona where her thesis focused on public space in the context of a gentrified Barcelona neighborhood. Rooted in the US South, Megan completed her undergraduate studies closer to home at the University of Florida, obtaining a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies.

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