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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Land Use and Environmental Planning

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

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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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Land Use and Environmental Planning

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