student-type: PhD Student
Christopher Samoray
Land Use and Environmental Planning
Chris is a doctoral student specializing in land use and environmental planning. His research interests relate to issues at the coast, including sea level rise, flooding, and storm surge. Currently, he’s working on a project studying floodplain development around the country.
Chris has a background in marine biology and science communication, having published with outlets such as Science News and Mongabay.com and worked as a science writer at Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Before starting at UNC DCRP, Chris completed his master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Maryland, where he studied nature-based design solutions for sea level rise at Hains Point in Washington, D.C.
Amanda Ullman
Specialization: Just Energy Transitions
What got you interested in planning?
Some of my favorite courses during my Master of Environmental Management degree dealt with sustainable transportation and international energy access. During a trip to Geneva, in between my first and second year of my masters program, I visited the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and was really fascinated by discussions of the equity analysis necessary for transportation and energy systems development in emerging economies. The conversation made me realize how much more I wanted to explore these issues of equity and sustainability in energy systems planning!
What’s your favorite project that you’ve worked on?
I developed a policy menu aimed to assist federal policy makers in support sustainability at U.S. ports and achieve decarbonization of the shipping industry. A large portion of the port sought to educate policymakers on the potential for green hydrogen as a foundation for this decarbonization and suggest policies and R&D goals to develop economies of scale for hydrogen-based fuels.
What future goals do you have for your specialization?
I hope to more greatly understand community priorities in energy systems planning, particularly in the context of communities economically dependent on fossil fuel extraction. It is my hope to conduct this research through comparative regional analysis, particularly under the lenses of environmental sustainability, equity, and economic development.
Xijing Li
Land Use and Environmental Planning
Specialization: Land Use and environmental Planning
What got you interested in planning?
As a student major in geography previously, I like exploring the interaction between human beings and the space especially in urbanized area. During the two years research assistant experience in UIUC, I luckily joined a project related to urban planning and I am interest in this discipline since then.
What’s your favorite project that you’ve worked on?
Exploring the land urbanization process’s influence on urban heat island effect in Indian fast growth cities.
What future goals do you have for your specialization?
Learn more knowledge and gain systematic training in this discipline. Combine novel data source, advanced spatial analysis skills and planning theory to improve the well-being of the urban residents.
Saumitra Sinha
Specialization: Water resources and sanitation planning in developing countries
Hometown: New Delhi, India
Previous degrees: Bachelor of Architecture – School of Planning and Architecture New Delhi ‘12, Master of Regional Planning – Cornell University ‘17
Saumitra’s research focuses focus on risk and vulnerabilities in urban water and sanitation in the context of low- and middle-income countries. Prior to starting his PhD, Saumitra worked on several research projects related to urban water management in India. For his master’s thesis project, he studied the vulnerability of households to flooding in the informal settlements of Kolkata. During his field visits he realized the importance of reliable access to, and provision of water and sanitation facilities for reducing risk and decided to apply to PhD programs to study this subject in greater depth. Saumitra also worked as a research associate at the Tata-Cornell Institute conducting spatial analysis of food systems in India. He also worked as a planner in an interdisciplinary team at Cornell studying the motivations behind the different responses by communities to flooding in Upstate New York.
He was delighted to be accepted into UNC’s program not only because of the program’s reputation for high quality research on water and sanitation but because of the diverse faculty and students that would enrich his education by providing opportunities to learn new approaches and methods for addressing planning problems.
In the department, Saumitra is part of the PhD Policy Committee. He enjoys studying at the PhD office space with his peers, finding it a very stimulating environment where students play a significant role in each other’s education. Saumitra was also the recipient of the Druscilla French Fellowship in 2019.
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Jo Kwon
Land Use and Environmental Planning
Joungwon (Jo) Kwon is a doctoral student who hopes to become an interdisciplinary urban planner and scholar. She is interested in the use of visuals, specifically interactive maps, in plans. She holds an MA Computational Media from Duke University. Her previous work is 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, an abandoned railway in Downtown Durham.
Saumitra Sinha
Water resources and sanitation planning in developing countries
Specialization: Water resources and sanitation planning in developing countries
Hometown: New Delhi, India
Previous degrees: Bachelor of Architecture – School of Planning and Architecture New Delhi ‘12, Master of Regional Planning – Cornell University ‘17
Saumitra’s research focuses focus on risk and vulnerabilities in urban water and sanitation in the context of low- and middle-income countries. Prior to starting his PhD, Saumitra worked on several research projects related to urban water management in India. For his master’s thesis project, he studied the vulnerability of households to flooding in the informal settlements of Kolkata. During his field visits he realized the importance of reliable access to, and provision of water and sanitation facilities for reducing risk and decided to apply to PhD programs to study this subject in greater depth. Saumitra also worked as a research associate at the Tata-Cornell Institute conducting spatial analysis of food systems in India. He also worked as a planner in an interdisciplinary team at Cornell studying the motivations behind the different responses by communities to flooding in Upstate New York.
He was delighted to be accepted into UNC’s program not only because of the program’s reputation for high quality research on water and sanitation but because of the diverse faculty and students that would enrich his education by providing opportunities to learn new approaches and methods for addressing planning problems.
In the department, Saumitra is part of the PhD Policy Committee. He enjoys studying at the PhD office space with his peers, finding it a very stimulating environment where students play a significant role in each other’s education. Saumitra was also the recipient of the Druscilla French Fellowship in 2019.
