I am currently Assistant Professor of Regional and City Planning at the University of Oklahoma where I teach food systems planning, geographic information systems, participatory planning methods, site planning, and urban design theory.

My research focuses on environmental and social influences of neighborhood well being as well as land use policies that aim to improve community health. I am interested in the use of spatial modeling and analysis of the built and affective environment as a means of empowering communities to adopt land use policies that are sustainable – environmentally, socially and economically.

My work appears in the Journal of the American Planning Association, the American Journal of Public Health, the Journal of Planning History, and Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design. I serve as a reviewer for the American Journal of Public Health, Journal of the American Planning Association, Urban Design International, and Urban Studies. I currently serve on the City of Norman, OK Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, and I previously served on the City of Los Angeles Billboard and Visual Landscape Visioning Group, the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council, and the City of Los Angeles Ventura-Cahuenga Corridor Specific Plan Review Board.

I hold a Ph.D. in planning from the University of Southern California, a master’s degree in landscape architecture from California State Polytechnic University, a master’s degree in environmental policy and behavior from the University of Michigan, and a bachelors’ degree in economics and environmental studies from the University of Southern California.