Professor Dr. Zoé Hamstead

Biography

Zoé Hamstead is an Associate Professor in the Department of City & Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on environmental planning, climate planning, sustainability resilience, and environmental climate justice. Using mixed methods and participatory action research, her work addresses the social justice dimensions of urban climate challenges, highlighting issues of thermal insecurity caused by climate change. Dr. Hamstead has published extensively in interdisciplinary journals, working on projects such as the analysis of access to urban parks and community solar planning. Her recent co-edited volume, "Resilient Urban Futures," examines long-range planning capacities for climate resilience across multiple cities in the Americas. Prior to her tenure at UC Berkeley, Dr. Hamstead was an Assistant Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she founded the Community Resilience Lab and directed the master's program specializing in environmental planning. Her comprehensive academic background also includes experience as a local government land use planner and educator. Her work challenges conventional urban planning paradigms and advocates for integrative governance frameworks to address critical environmental burdens.

Research Interests