Research Bio

Danielle Zoe Rivera's research examines policy and design for environmental, climate, and disaster justice. Her work uses community-based research methods to address the impacts of climate-induced disasters affecting low-income communities throughout California, South Texas, the Chesapeake Bay, and Puerto Rico. Her current work deeply engages rural and unincorporated communities of color reeling from disasters, challenging government agencies to recognize these communities and alter outdated policy and programmatic frameworks. Rivera teaches environmental planning and design, community engagement, disaster policy, and environmental justice.

Her work has been published by the Journal of the American Planning Association, Journal of Architectural Education, Environment and Planning, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Environmental Justice, and the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research (IJURR). Additionally, she has contributed to articles in the Los Angeles Times, NPR, Washington Post, Dwell, and Grist. In 2023, her article on procedural vulnerability was awarded Best JAPA Article by an Emerging Scholar by the Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA) and the American Planning Association (APA). 

Rivera is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning. She is also the Director of the Just Environments Lab in the College of Environmental Design. She holds a PhD in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan, a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the Pennsylvania State University. 

Research Expertise and Interest

environmental justice, environmental and climate justice, urban planning, urban design, Puerto Rico, Borderlands, California, adaptation to flooding, disaster recovery, participatory research, participatory planning