Daniella is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Planning at Utah State University. Her research focuses on building resilience in the face of the climate crisis. She brings together the fields of urban ecology and environmental planning to investigate the management and design of sustainable places. She formulates her research to build a bridge between theory and planning practice.
“I weave together the fields of urban ecology and environmental planning to investigate resilient systems. I approach this investigation through three interwoven tracks. First, I look at the adaptive capacity of systems to understand their ability to change to meet future conditions. Second, I focus on the decision-making environment, unpacking the use of science and the connections to the cost of proactive adaptation actions. My third area of research is spatial analysis, which is primarily a tool I use to support the other two areas of work.”
Prior to working as a researcher, Daniella helped to design sustainability rating systems for cities across the country and worked as a climate adaptation planner. Daniella holds a PhD in landscape architecture and environmental planning from the University of California Berkeley, a master’s of environmental management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College.
Daniella became involved in Hazon at the NY Ride in 2011, was the Co-chair of the California ride in 2015, and was on the Hazon Seal advisory committee from 2016-2017.
Role: Assistant Professor
Field of Research: Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
Areas of Expertise: Climate change adaptation, coastal hazards, sea level rise, zoning by-law revisions, and GIS