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PEOPLE
Director 

 

Mahbubur R. Meenar, Ph.D., GISP

Dr. Meenar is an associate professor in the Department of Geography, Planning, and Sustainability in the School of Earth and Environment at Rowan University. He is also the director of Community Planning + Visualization Lab, which uses a Biophilic Urbanism lens to explore the connection between people and their "total" environment (e.g., social, natural, and built environments) and the influence this connection has on the planning process for developing sustainable, healthy, equitable, just, and "smart" communities. Having a diverse academic background in architecture (Dhaka), urban planning (Buffalo), and geography/urban studies (Philadelphia), Dr. Meenar concentrates on four research tracks: Community food [systems + environment + security], [Green + blue + grey] infrastructure, Sustainable [development + design + policy], and Digital [tools + technologies + societies]. He has served as the principal investigator on many research grants funded by federal, state, and local agencies and has published 30+ articles in leading journals. He teaches environmental planning, community engagement, planning studio, and Geovisualization in graduate and undergraduate planning programs. Dr. Meenar was the recipient of the ACSP Rising Scholar award in 2020.

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Research interests: built environment, green infrastructure, food environment, environmental health, urban regeneration & sustainable development, participatory planning, digital civic engagement, smart cities, geospatial planning, social equity 

Present Collaborators @ Rowan University
Thivanka Ariyarathna, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor, Environmental Science | Research Interests: environmental pollutants, contaminant monitoring, biodegradation
Garrett Broad, Ph.D. | Associate Professor,
Communication Studies | Research Interests: social movements, innovations in media and technology, and the contemporary food system
Megan Bucknum, MUEP | Senior Lecturer,
Geography, Planning, & Sustainability | Research Interests: food systems planning, collaborative planning, oral history

Elizabeth Cerceo, MD
| Associate Professor, Medicine | Research Interests: environmental health, climate health, resident education
Qian He, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor,
Geography, Planning, & Sustainability | Research Interests: risk, resilience, urban built environment, public policy, climate change

Richard Federman, MS | Senior Lecturer, Geography, Planning, & Sustainability | Research Interests: earth and environment, big history, sustainability
Ted Howell, Ph.D. | Lecturer,
Writing Arts | Research Interests: environmental humanities, climate change fiction, community writing, the Anthropocene

Kevin Keenan, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Geography, Planning, & Sustainability | Research Interests: environmental risk and hazards, terrorism, cyber vulnerability
Jennifer Kitson, Ph.D. | Associate Professor,
Art | Research Interests: public art, senses and the city, sustainable urbanism, historic preservation
Ik Jae Lee, Ph.D. | Associate Professor,
Mathematics | Research Interests: topology, knot theory, manifolds and cell complexes
John Mullen, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor,
Educational Leadership, Administration, & Research | Research Interests: educational theory, environmental humanities, sustainability science
Paromita Nath, Ph.D. | Assistant 
Professor, Mechanical Engineering | Research Interests: computational health, sustainable materials & processes, digital engineering, sensors & robotics

Hieu Nguyen, Ph.D. | Professor, Mathematics | Research Interests: experimental mathematics, coding theory, frames
Nicole Vaugh, Ph.D. | Associate
 Professor, Public Health & Wellness | Research Interests: community-based participatory research, health disparities, trauma-informed programs

Ashley York, Ph.D. | Lecturer, Geography, Planning, & Sustainability | Research Interests: GIS, remote sensing, spatial analysis and statistics, climate change, the cryosphere
Present non-Rowan  Collaborators 
Deepti Adlakha, Ph.D. (Landscape Architecture, Public Health, TU Delft, Netherlands)  | David Salas-De La Cruz, Ph.D., Chemistry, Rutgers University, USA) | Asif Ishtiaque, Ph.D. (Geography, GIS, Missouri State University) | Eli Moore, Ph.D. (Environmental Science - US Geological Survey) | Maher Niger, Ph.D. (Architecture, Ahsanullah University of Science & Technology, Bangladesh) | Jirka Panek, Ph.D. (Community Development, GIS - Palacký University, Czech Republic) | Md Shahinoor Rahman, Ph.D. (GIS, Earth Science, Louisiana State University) | Mohammed Mahbubur Rahman, Ph.D. (Vice Chancellor, Ahsanullah University of Science & Technology, Bangladesh) | Asma Siddika (Architecture, Ahsanullah University of Science & Technology, Bangladesh)
Past  Collaborators 

Nader Afzalan, Ph.D. (University of Redlands) | Saleh Ahmed, Ph.D. (Boise State University) | Sanjana Ahmed (TU Delft, Netherlands) | Ashraful Alam, Ph.D. (Geography, Planning - University of Melbourne, Australia) | Ayman Ali, Ph.D. (Rowan University) | Sarah Bauer, Ph.D. (Civil Engineering - Mercer University, USA) | Leonard Bonarek (Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia) | Mireille Bright, Ph.D., MPH, RDN (Rowan University) | Helen Cole, Ph.D. (Barcelona Laboratory for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability) | Zachary Christman, Ph.D. (Rowan University) | Bradley Flamm, Ph.D. (West Chester University of Pennsylvania) | Amir Hajrasouliha, Ph.D. (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo) | John Hasse, Ph.D. (Rowan University) | Sally Harrison (Temple University) | Megan Heckert, Ph.D. (West Chester University of Pennsylvania) | Jordan Howell, Ph.D., MBA (Rowan University) | Mohammad Jalayer, Ph.D. (Rowan University) | Kul Kapri, Ph.D. (Rowan University) | S. M. Labib, Ph.D. (Spatial Data Science, Utrecht University, Netherlands + University of Cambridge, UK) | Jie Li, Ph.D. (Rowan University) | Dara LoBuono, Ph.D., RD (Rowan University) | Lynn Mandarano, Ph.D. (Temple University) | Alfonso Morales, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin – Madison) | Smitha Mysore (SJB School of Architecture and Planning, Bangalore, India) | John Sorrentino, Ph.D. (Temple University) | Leslie Spencer, Ph.D. (Rowan University) | Melanie Stewart (Rowan University)

Past & Present  Consultants 

Shaneka Boucher, Social Responsibility Through Me | Margaret DelPlato, Economic development planner, public administration specialist | Robert Gladfelter, Landscape designer | Jason Hachadorian, Urban planner | Kyle Hearing, Urban planner | Jenna Otto, Landscape designer | Cassie Shugart, Urban planner | August Tarrier, Editor | Shane Walsh, Physical geographer | Jonathan Wetstein, Urban planner | Cerulean, LLC | Econsult Solutions Inc.

Past & Present  Organizational Partners & Collaborators

Heart of Camden
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Acenda Integrated Health

Bullock Garden Project Inc.
Camden Community Partnerships

Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority

Camden Fire Works

Camden Urban Agriculture Collaborative

Center for Environmental Transformation
Creative Glassboro
Glassboro Borough
Heart of Cam
den

HopeWorks in Camden

Mosaic Family Success Center

Neighborhood Collaborative Community Gardens

New Jersey Tree Foundation
New Kensington Community Development Corporation
Parkside Business and Community in Partnership

Social Responsibility Through Me
The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking

Leaf Pattern Design

Current Lab Members

Cameron Connelly, Major - Computer Science

Hannah Genereux, Graduate Student, Urban & Regional Planning

Ladarion Hardison, Graduate Student, Urban & Regional Planning

Megan Polifrone, Major - Community & Environmental Planning

Ethan Theurer, Major - Community & Environmental Planning

Lab members 2022
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Featured Alumni

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Past Members / Alumni

Arianna Adan, Major - Journalism

Noah Berkowitz, Major - GIS, Minor - Community & Environmental Planning
Matthew Bettin, Major - Environmental Studies, Minor - Biology, GIS

Casey Bourke, Major - Community & Environmental Planning, Environmental & Sustainability Studies

Taryn Brickner, Major - GIS, Minor - Community & Environmental Planning

Christopher Campbell, Major - GIS, Minor - Community & Environmental Planning, History 

Liz Cao, Major - Community & Environmental Planning

Alex Cervantes, Major - GIS, Minor - Community & Environmental Planning

Robert Chiaravalloti, Major - Community & Environmental Planning

Michelle Contarino, Graduate Student, Psychology

Carlos Cruz-Gallo, Major - Community & Environmental Planning, GIS

Santino D'Agostino, Major - Journalism

Gabrielle Davis, Major - Community & Environmental Planning, Environmental & Sustainability Studies
Marie DiLeonardo, Major - Spanish, Subject Matter Education K-12

Samantha Dimeglio, Major - Environmental Studies, Minor - Community & Environmental Planning, GIS

Lea Donaghy, Major - Psychology

Joseph Foti, Major - Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Management

Jonathan Hansel, Graduate Student, Urban & Regional Planning (Read Jon's exclusive interview here | Watch a video interview on YouTube)

Shantae Henry, Major - Public Health

​Oludayo Ibikunle, Major - Chemical Engineering

Robert Kearney, Major - Geography, Minor - Community & Environmental Planning, GIS

Jessica Lubitz, Major - Environmental & Sustainability Studies

Graham Luther, Major - Community & Environmental Planning

Evan Mabin, Major - Community & Environmental Planning

Amy Mann, Major - English

Kenny Marte, Major - Community & Environmental Planning, Minor - GIS, Sustainable Built Environments, Spanish

Jack Meyers, Major - GIS, Minor - Community & Environmental Planning

Jenna Monaghan, Graduate student, Urban & Regional Planning

Donald Morrison, Major - GIS

Julia Moseley, Major - Community & Environmental Planning, GIS

Devon Moulton, Major - Community & Environmental Planning, Minors - Environmental Science, Environmental & Sustainability Studies, Geography

Devon Nealer, Graduate Student, Urban & Regional Planning

Mercy Patrick, Graduate Student, Urban & Regional Planning

Brianna Pellegrino, Graduate student, Nutrition and Dietatics

Harman Ransi, Major - Computer Science

Giavanni Rizzo, Major - Community and Environmental Planning, Environmental & Sustainability Studies

Cassandra Rodriguez, Major - Community & Environmental Planning

Kira Rose, Major - Civil & Environmental Engineering

Samain Sabrin, Graduate Student, Civil & Environmental Engineering 

Cassie Shugart, Major - Community & Environmental Planning, Geography

Herivin Simmasalam, Major - GIS, Minor - Geography

Sarah Sosa, Major - Biological Science, Minor - GIS, Environmental Science

Ben Stephens, Major - Geography, Minor - GIS

Jake Vitagliano, Major - Community & Environmental Planning

Christopher Tirri, Graduate Student, Urban & Regional Planning

Kristina Wallace, Major - GIS, Minor - Community & Environmental Planning

Dylan Williams, Major - Community & Environmental Planning, Minor - GIS, Sustainable Built Environments

Hunter Swanson, Major - Community & Environmental Planning, Minor - GIS

Meghan Wren, Major - Community & Environmental Planning

Ben Woodward, Graduate Student, Urban & Regional Planning

Hoi Yan Yu, Graduate student, Mathematics - Statistics

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