I obtained a PhD (Urban Studies & Planning, MIT) before returning to Europe in 2011 with a Marie Curie fellowship. Situated at the intersection of urban planning and policy, social inequality and development studies, my research examines the extent to which urban plans, policies, and socio-environmental interventions contribute to more just, resilient, healthy, and sustainable cities. I also study how community groups in distressed neighborhoods contest environmental inequities as a result of urban (re)development processes. I am based at UAB-ICTA where I lead the research line Cities & Environmental Justice, direct the Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice & Sustainability, and head the ICTA Gender, Diversity, Care, and Wellbeing Commitee. Much of my work takes place in marginalized neighborhoods resisting displacement from unequal development and climate change in Europe, the Americas and S Africa.

I am a critical social scientist trained in urban studies & planning (PhD, MIT, 2011), nonprofit management (Harvard University, 2004), international development (University de Paris-1 Sorbonne, 2001), and political studies (Science Po, 2000). 

As part of collaborative and individual international research projects, I study how environmental injustices materialize and get contested. Currently, I focus on four main research areas: 1) The politics of the green city as a growing global planning orthodoxy; 2) The social and racial manifestations and impacts of green gentrification for historically marginalized residents 3) Urban planning for health and wellbeing, with a focus on health equity and justice 4) Justice and inclusivity in climate adaptation planning, including distributional and procedural insecurities produced by climate impacts and displacement, adaptation plans, interventions, and land use configurations and regulations.