I am currently an Associate Professor of Regional + City Planning at the University of Oklahoma Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture where I teach food systems planning, geographic information systems, participatory planning, site planning, and urban design theory.
I will be teaching a new course titled Herban Planning: Public Policy and Land Use for Medical Marijuana, spring 2022.
The course will explore the social, spatial, and economic factors that make Oklahoma an emerging center of medical marijuana. Local zoning regulations and state policies are needed to both encourage the benefits and curtail the problems associated with its cultivation, distribution, and use.
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 use spatial modeling and analysis of the built environment to better understand how communities come to support land use policies that improve the quality of life and well being of local residents. I particular interests in access to food and exposure to harmful messaging via outdoor advertising.
I recently started a new project with my colleague Madison Swayne of San Diego State University School of Public Affairs investigating the role of transit access in alleviating food insecurity. The first article from this work, “Integrating transit data and travel time into food security analysis: A case study of San Diego, California” is available in the Journal of Applied Geography.
My research appears in Applied Geography, the American Journal of Public Health, Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, the Interdisciplinary Journal of Wayfinding and Signage, the Journal of the American Planning Association, and the Journal of Planning History.
