Areas of Interest
Climate Adaptation, Collaborative Governance, Participatory Planning, Climate Justice, Collective Care
Education
- PhD, Urban Planning, University of California Los Angeles, 2025
- Masters in City and Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017
- MS in Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017
- BA in Environmental Analysis, Pitzer College, 2013
Bio
Emma came to the field of planning through grassroots community organizing and environmental and climate justice advocacy. Her research and teaching center around urban governance, climate change, and justice. Specifically, her work explores how frontline communities mobilize and practice new worlds in response to compounding ecological and social crises. Emma is motivated by the belief that planning can be a tool for challenging the supremacist ideologies and structures that have led to both the climate crisis and widespread social vulnerability.
Courses Instructed
- PLAN 310 Introduction to Planning
- PLAN 623 Coastal Planning & Management
Selected Publications
Turner, V. K., French, E. M., Dialesandro, J., Middel, A., Hondula, D. M., Weiss, G. B., & Abdellati, H. 2021. How are cities planning for heat? Analysis of United States municipal plans. Environmental Research Letters, 17(6), 064054.
Turek-Hankins, L. L., […] French, E. M., et al. 2021. Climate change adaptation to extreme heat: A global systematic review of implemented action. Oxford Open Climate Change, 1(1).
Lodato, T., French, E., & Clark, J. 2021. Open government data in the smart city: Interoperability, urban knowledge, and linking legacy systems. Journal of Urban Affairs, 43(4), 586–600.
French, E. M., Karpman, J., Dasmalchi, E., & Lau, S. 2020. In search of affordable sustainability. Research Report for UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate.
French, E., Sudharsan, S., & Clark, J. 2018. Local leadership and global goals: How city sustainability networks are changing progressive policymaking. Metropolitics.
Wood, M., French, E. M., & Clark, J. 2017. Atlanta’s food truck fervor: Policy impediments and entrepreneurial efforts to expand mobile cuisine. In J. Agyeman, C. Matthews, & H. Sobel, Food Trucks, Cultural Identity, and Social Justice: From Loncheras to Lobsta Love. MIT Press.