Experts by Expertise: Cities and Urban Planning

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For help reaching an expert on deadline, please contact UB's media relations team at 716-645-6969 or ub-news@buffalo.edu.

Note to members of the news media:

The correct name of the university is “University at Buffalo,” not “University of Buffalo.”

7/15/21
Robert Adelman

Chair and Professor of Sociology

Expertise: urban sociology, segregation, race, immigration, U.S. Census
Phone: 716-645-8478
Email: adelman4@buffalo.edu
2/22/23
John D. Atkinson

Associate Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
Expertise: sustainability, greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution control, materials science and engineering, adsorption, life-cycle assessment
Phone: 716-645-4001
Email: atkjdw@buffalo.edu
4/12/23
Annahita Ball

Associate Professor of Social Work

Expertise: family engagement in schools; educational justice and reform; school-based mental health services; school-community partnerships

Phone: 716-645-8951
Email: annahita@buffalo.edu
4/12/23
Elizabeth Bowen
Associate Professor of Social Work

Expertise: homelessness, health issues affecting homeless populations, recovery from alcohol and other drug problems
Phone: 716-645-1258
Email: eabowen@buffalo.edu
8/19/21
Ian Bradley

Assistant Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering

Expertise: wastewater treatment, algae, algal blooms in the Great Lakes and elsewhere
Phone: 716-645-4004
Email: ianbradl@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Irus Braverman

Professor of Law

Expertise: laws governing animals, zoos, wildlife, coral reefs, extinction and climate change law, law and society, law and conservation, law and the environment, environmental justice in Israel/Palestine
Phone: 716-645-3030
Email: irusb@buffalo.edu
10/21/22
Michel Bruneau

SUNY Distinguished Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering

Expertise: disaster resilience, multi-hazard engineering, design of infrastructure to resist extreme events, earthquake engineering, design of steel structures, structural engineering
Phone: (716) 645-3398
Email: bruneau@buffalo.edu
8/17/21
Susan Spierre Clark

Assistant Professor of Environment and Sustainability

Expertise: climate change and sustainable development; resilient infrastructure; power outages due to extreme events; sustainability education; community resilience
Phone: 716-645-1403
Email: sclark1@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Yige Dong

Assistant Professor of Sociology, and of Global Gender and Sexuality Studies

Expertise: labor, work, gender and political economy, especially in China; labor and feminist movements in China and in a global context
Phone: 716-645-2417
Email: yigedong@buffalo.edu
4/7/23
Negar Elhami-Khorasani

Associate Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering

Expertise: structural fire engineering, wildfires in wildland-urban interface communities, fire following earthquake, multi-hazard engineering, disaster resilience
Phone: 716-645-3019
Email: negarkho@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Trina Hamilton
Associate Professor of Geography
Expertise: corporate responsibility, social and environmental activism, diamond trade, gentrification

Phone: 716-645-0482
Email: trinaham@buffalo.edu
2/15/23
Erin Hatton

Professor of Sociology

Expertise: labor movements, gig economy, job security, coerced labor, pay for college athletes, minimum wage, workfare
Phone: 716-645-8476
Email: eehatton@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Yingjie Hu

Assistant Professor of Geography

Expertise: GIScience, spatial analysis, natural language processing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data mining, big data
Phone: 716-645-1820
Email: yhu42@buffalo.edu
8/19/21
Joyce Hwang

Associate Professor of Architecture

Expertise: animal architecture; habitecture; habitart; wildlife habitats, ecology and architecture
Phone: 716-829-5906
Email: jh96@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
James N. Jensen

Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
Expertise: public water systems, drinking-water treatment, wastewater treatment
Phone: 716-645-4007
Email: jjensen@buffalo.edu
4/12/23
Wooksoo Kim

Associate Professor of Social Work

Expertise: immigration; refugee resettlement, acculturation; social determinants of health of Asian immigrants; community-based participatory research
Phone: 716-645-1227
Email: wkim5@buffalo.edu
1/25/22
Lucia A. Leone

Associate Professor of Community Health and Health Behavior

Expertise: food access, mobile produce markets, WIC, obesity prevention, physical activity

Phone: 716-829-6953
Email: lucialeo@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Jordana Maisel

Director of Research for the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center)
Expertise: universal design, inclusive design, accessible transit, streetscapes, aging in place
Phone: 716-829-5902
Email: jlmaisel@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Elizabeth Mazzolini

Associate Professor of English

Expertise: Mountaineering deaths, climbing technology, consumerism, material culture, garbage, culture of waste

Phone: 716-645-0691
Email: mazz@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Lina Mu

Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Environmental Health

Expertise: air pollution, cancer, particulate matter, environmental epidemiology, air pollution in China
Phone: 716-829-5381
Email: linamu@buffalo.edu
8/17/21
Sayanti Mukherjee

Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Expertise: resilient sociotechnical systems, predictive analytics, risk-informed decision-making, public health and health care, electrical grid and energy, climate change impact assessment
Phone: 716-645-4699
Email: sayantim@buffalo.edu
8/20/18
Ryan Muldoon

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Expertise: social and political philosophy, diversity, international development policy, social norms, behavior change, ethics

Phone: 716-645-0140
Email: rmuldoon@buffalo.edu
4/3/20
Heather Orom

Associate Professor of Community Health and Health Behavior

Expertise: Health disparities, illness risk perception

Phone: 716-829- 6682
Email: horom@buffalo.edu
4/12/23
Kelly Patterson

Associate Professor of Social Work

Expertise: social welfare policy; cannabis policy; residential segregation; fair housing; gentrification; homelessness; poverty and economic inequality; race and class
Phone: 716-645-1248
Email: klp27@buffalo.edu
12/26/18
Samina Raja
Professor of Urban and Regional Planning
Expertise: food access, food systems planning, food and urban planning, local government food policy

Phone: 716-829-5881
Email: sraja@buffalo.edu
4/20/23
Nicholas Rajkovich

Associate Professor of Architecture

Expertise: climate change and cities; climate adaptation in the Great Lakes region; energy efficiency; renewable energy; climate refuge cities
Phone: 716-829-6910
Email: rajkovic@buffalo.edu
4/20/23
Peter A. Rogerson
SUNY Distinguished Professor of Geography

Expertise: demographics, population trends, baby boomers, spatial statistics, epidemiology, geographic centers
Phone: 716-645-0483
Email: rogerson@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Adam Rome

Professor of Environment and Sustainability
Expertise: environmental movement in the U.S., environmental history, Earth Day, sustainable business, suburban sprawl
Phone: 716-645-8665
Email: adamrome@buffalo.edu
8/30/21
Adel Sadek
Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
Expertise: traffic, traffic at border-crossings, traffic in bad weather, smart cities, electric, autonomous and conventional vehicles
Phone: 716-645-4367
Email: asadek@buffalo.edu
10/19/22
Robert G. Shibley

Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning
Expertise: urban design and planning, urban revitalization, postindustrial cities, Buffalo and Western New York, the Rust Belt

Phone: 716-829-3981
Email: rshibley@buffalo.edu
Contact: Shibley can also be reached through David Hill in UB Media Relations (716-645-4651, davidhil@buffalo.edu) or Rachel Teaman in the School of Architecture and Planning (716-829-3794, rmansour@buffalo.edu).
8/16/21
Robert Silverman

Professor of Urban and Regional Planning

Expertise: shrinking cities, fair housing, affordable housing, gentrification, community development, nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations in urban neighborhoods
Phone: 716-829-5882
Email: rms35@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Korydon Smith
Professor and Chair of Architecture
Expertise: diversity and social justice in planning and design; inclusive design; refugee housing and settlement planning
Phone: 716-829-5908
Email: khsmith@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Kristin Stapleton
Professor of History

Expertise: modern China; U.S.-China relations; Chinese cities; history of the family, socialism and humor in China
Phone: 716-645-5645
Email: kstaple@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Edward Steinfeld

Director of the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center)

Expertise: universal design, inclusive design, accessibility, building design, inclusive restrooms, accessible transit, architecture
Phone: 716-829-5899
Email: arced@buffalo.edu
10/25/21
Kang Sun

Assistant Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering

Expertise: air pollution, greenhouse gases, climate change, remote sensing, molecular spectroscopy

Phone: 716-645-6167
Email: kangsun@buffalo.edu
5/14/22
Henry-Louis Taylor Jr.
Director of the Center for Urban Studies
Expertise: urban development, housing, gentrification, underdeveloped neighborhoods, shrinking cities, race and class, U.S.-Cuba relations

Phone: 716-829-5458
Email: htaylor@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Machiko R. Tomita

Clinical Professor of Rehabilitation Science

Expertise: aging, falls and frailty prevention in older adults, caregiving for older adults, smart home technology, virtual group exercise
Phone: 716-829-6740
Email: machikot@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Shambhu Upadhyaya
Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
Expertise: cybersecurity, hacking, encryption, cyberattacks, protecting infrastructure from cyber threats

Phone: 716-645-3183
Email: shambhu@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Greg A. Valentine

Director of the Center for Geohazards Studies

Expertise: volcanoes, volcanic eruptions, disaster preparedness, supervolcanoes

Phone: 716-645-4295
Email: gav4@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Andrew Whittaker
SUNY Distinguished Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
Expertise: earthquake engineering; seismic protective systems; blast engineering; bridge engineering; infrastructure; design and assessment of nuclear power plants; performance-based engineering; risk engineering
Phone: 716-645-4364
Email: awhittak@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Lillian S. Williams

Associate Professor of Africana and American Studies

Expertise: U.S. social and urban history; African American history in the U.S. and Western New York; women’s history
Phone: 716-645-0798
Email: lsw4@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Victoria Wolcott

Professor of History

Expertise: civil rights, African American history, race and cities, urban history, gender, sexuality
Phone: 716-645-8411
Email: vwwolcot@buffalo.edu
8/16/21
Yinyin Ye

Assistant Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering

Expertise: surveillance and disinfection of pathogens in wastewater and the environment; wastewater-based disease monitoring; environmental microbiology; proteomics
Phone: 716-645-4002
Email: yinyinye@buffalo.edu