People
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听 Serena Hoermann, Ph.D., AICP, MBA,听 serves as associate director for the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions (CUES) and assistant research professor for the School of Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sustainability (ECOS). Her research interests include community displacement and climate gentrification, resilience policy and planning, as well as sustainable transportation planning. Dr. Hoermann serves as a faculty mentor for the NSF Center for Smart Streetscapes 鈥.鈥 As program manager for the听, she connected university resources to support community planning. She founded the听, using storytelling to build community. Her doctorate in public administration focused on urban planning and policy.
In 2014-2017, she supported FAU's Center for Environmental Studies (CES) as coordinator for the Florida Climate Institute, lending support to conference and outreach efforts and supporting community engagement and communications. |
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听 Wen Zhang, Ph.D., serves as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the Center for Equitable Transit Oriented Communities (CETOC). He completed a doctorate in Computational Mathematics in Shanghai University in 2009, a second master鈥檚 degree in Applied Math at Michigan Technological University in 2012, and postdoc training in machine learning research at Baylor College of Medicine in 2013. Since 2012, he has been conducting research on artificial intelligence (AI) models in medical research and their applications, and since 2013, publishing papers in computational sciences and related fields. Current research focuses on AI-driven applications utilizing real-world big data, particularly in urban planning and transportation resilience. He is collaborating with Dr. John Renne and Dr. Serena Hoermann to develop AI-powered tools that empower urban planners, transit authorities, and policymakers to make more sustainable decisions across the nation. He is also committed to incorporating virtual reality to engage communities in long-term planning for sea-level rise. |
Wen Zhang, Ph.D.
CUES Affiliated Research听
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Dr. Besser is a Research Assistant Professor at University of Miami鈥檚 Comprehensive Center for Brain Health in Boca Raton, FL. Her current research is primarily focused on the intersection between neighborhoods, the built and social environment, aging, and brain health. LM Besser, C Bean, A Foor, S Hoermann, J Renne. (2023). Evaluating Racial/Ethnic Equity in Planning-Related US Health Impact Assessments Involving Parks and Greenspaces: A Review.听Journal of the American Planning Association 89(4), 472-486.听听 Lilah Besser, Cherilyn Bean, Amanda Foor, Serena Hoermann, & John Renne. Evaluating Racial/Ethnic Equity in Planning-Related U.S. Health Impact Assessments Involving Parks and Greenspaces. Journal of the American Planning Association, 1鈥15, 2022.听 Lilah Besser, Willa Brenowitz, Oanh Meyer, Serena Hoermann, and John Renne. Methods to Address Self-Selection and Reverse Causation in Studies of Neighborhood Environments and Brain Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Vol. 18, 6484, 2021. DOI:听 Lilah Besser, Jana Hirsch, James E. Galvin, John Renne, Juyong Park, Kelly R. Evenson, Joel D. Kaufman and Annette L. Fitzpatrick. Associations between neighborhood park space and cognition in older adults vary by US location: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Health and Place. No. 66, 102459, 2020. DOI:听 |
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听 Dr. Bloetscher's research includes water resource issues associated with waste disposal, including injection wells, membrane concentrate management, water resource management, utility finance and management, water conservation practices, wastewater disposal practice risk assessments, endocrine disruptor impacts and nutrient impacts in the coastal water of SE Florida. Frederick Bloetscher, John Renne, and Serena Hoermann. Unaccounted infrastructure needs for transit- oriented developments. Journal of Infrastructure, Policy, and Development. Vol. 5, Issue 2, 2021. DOI: |
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H. Jon and Judith M. Runstad Endowed Professor and Chair, Runstad Department of Real Estate, College of Built Environments, University of Washington Steven C Bourassa, Matin Hoesli, Louis Merlin, and John Renne. Big data, accessibility and urban house prices. Urban Studies. Special issue: Big data and the city. pp. 1-20., 2021. DOI: South Florida Property Values Studies: Sea Level Rise and Walkability Steven Bourassa, PhD
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听 Dr. Chava's research focuses on using advanced data science in the fields of transportation and real estate. She analyzes hidden patterns and trends to predict the future and to narrate the stories. She obtained knowledge in various data analytical techniques, programming languages, machine learning algorithms and statistical tools along with various transportation planning packages. One current project is predicting the change in land and rental values and socioeconomic profile of residents around transit station areas, improving public transit reliability using ticketing data. Jyothi Chava and John Renne. Transit-induced gentrification or vice versa? A study of neighborhoods around light rail stations from 1970 鈥 2020. Journal of the American Planning Association, 2021. DOI:听 |
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听 Dr. Huber's work focuses on interdisciplinary public work projects that combine ecological, landscape, urban, and architectural design. He is currently researching issues of sea level rise in south Florida and has established over a quarter of a million dollars in grant funding in that effort through the National Endowment of the Arts and Florida Sea Grant programs. In 2019, the City of West Palm Beach partnered with CUES to envision how to reach the city's economic and livability goals for the Jefferson Terminal District (also known as the Warehouse District). |
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听 Dr. Li鈥檚 research focuses on housing and community development, and real estate and urban economics. She is very interested in policies related to affordable housing, sustainable community development, housing programs for people with special needs, and disaster adaptation and mitigation policies related to housing. She currently conducts research on community social capital and its planning implications, spatial patterns of second homes, and applied planning methods. South Florida Community Satisfaction Survey |
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听 Dr. Merlin鈥檚 current research concerns how to better integrate transportation and land use through the development of accessibility-based performance measures and tools, as well as the implications of self-driving cars for the transportation sustainability. Louis Merlin, Katherine Freeman, John Renne, and Serena Hoermann. Clustered randomized controlled trial protocol of a Mobility-as-a-Service app for College campuses. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Vol. 14: 100572, 2022.听
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Dr. Mitsova鈥檚 research focuses on the use of geographic information systems, spatial and statistical analysis to conduct interdisciplinary research aimed at understanding the interactions between ecosystems and urban environments, and informing sustainable urban planning and environmental practices. Her collaborations include projects with USGS, the National Park Service, The Nature Conservancy, and the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. COVID-19: Disaster Readiness and Resilience of Older Adults in Southeast Florida |
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听 Dr. Polsky serves as director of the Florida Center for Environmental Studies (CES) with the vision of improving Florida's sustainability through research, education and outreach on wetlands ecology and coastal resilience. CES collaborates with CUES on the 麻豆精品视频Incubator for Sustainable & Resilient Communities. In 2017, two 麻豆精品视频research centers, CUES and the Florida Center for Environmental Studies (CES) jointly produced听a workshop to engage experts听with the City of Hollywood and the City of West Palm Beach.听City leaders departed with the group鈥檚 short and long-term recommended actions, strategies for accomplishing those actions, and a renewed sense of optimism for implementation in their community. /science/departments/urban-regional-planning/research/cues/events/2017-fau-incubator-for-sustainable-resilient-communities/report.pdf |
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听 Dr. Sapat's expertise encompasses disaster management, public policy processes, vulnerability and resilience assessment, and methodology. She has been involved in a number of initiatives including NSF funded projects on building code regulations, population displacement after disasters and implications for housing, the role of the NGOs in disaster recovery, and critical infrastructure resilience. COVID-19: Disaster Readiness and Resilience of Older Adults in Southeast Florida Alka Sapat, PhD & Diana Mitsova, PhD. Read the research听Sapat Mitsova Disaster Resilience of Older Adults in S. Florida 11-18-2020 |
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听 Professor Savitch is a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Washington, DC) and Emeritus Brown and Williamson Professor, University of Louisville. He is currently working on issues related to policy transfer across metropolitan jurisdictions and analyses of regional resilience in the wake of natural disasters. Protecting South Florida: A Discussion of Sea Level Rise, Property and Regional Planning , aims to help local governments protect the region鈥檚 real property, valued at more than $833 billion. In addition, the South Florida region, comprised of Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, generates more than $337 billion in personal income annually. A number of choices to protect South Florida from flooding and other climate hazards exist; however, doing so requires the organization of localities for cooperation and starts with accurate and understandable information that can be conveyed to all stakeholders. The report authors, Hank Savitch, Josh Sawislak, and John L. Renne, summarize the issues and clarify alternatives for local governments responding to sea-level rise.听 |
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Protecting South Florida: A Discussion of Sea Level Rise, Property and Regional Planning , aims to help local governments protect the region鈥檚 real property, valued at more than $833 billion. In addition, the South Florida region, comprised of Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, generates more than $337 billion in personal income annually. A number of choices to protect South Florida from flooding and other climate hazards exist; however, doing so requires the organization of localities for cooperation and starts with accurate and understandable information that can be conveyed to all stakeholders. The report authors, Hank Savitch, Josh Sawislak, and John L. Renne, summarize the issues and clarify alternatives for local governments responding to sea-level rise.听 |
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CUES Graduate Research Assistants
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Undergraduate Research Assistant, Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions A Student of the Bachelor of Urban Design. 听 Alan Perez is a WLW-ECOS undergraduate Research Fellow working with Serena Hoermann on solution-oriented environmental research projects. His academic focus lies in shaping sustainable transit-oriented communities through urban analysis and smart growth planning. |
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Undergraduate Research Assistant, Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions A Student of the Bachelor of Urban Design. 听 Lamar Nau is a CUES undergraduate outreach assistant who serves as a WLW-ECOS Undergraduate Research Fellow working with Melina Matos on nature-based hazard mitigation projects and solutions. His academic focus lies in environmental planning and transportation planning, where he creates design solutions that foster sustainability and transit-oriented development.
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Alan Perez
Lamar Nau