RESEARCH TRACKS + PROJECTS
Our broader research agenda is to explore the connection between people and their social, natural, and built environments and the influence this connection has on the planning process for developing sustainable, healthy, equitable, and just communities. Our research areas are organized into four tracks (see below). These tracks frequently overlap with one another, and many projects have conceptual connections with more than one track. There are two overarching themes that influence all these tracks: equity and justice and climate change. We use the lens of equity and justice (e.g., food equity, food justice, environmental justice, and spatial justice) to design many projects. The impact of climate change at the local level (e.g., higher precipitation rates, higher frequency and intensity of flooding), responses to local challenges (e.g., stormwater management), and understanding people’s perceptions and feelings about these challenges and potential solutions have been embedded in several projects, mostly related to tracks 2 and 3. Generally, our work across all tracks is related to one or more of the following planning sub-fields: environmental planning, food systems planning, community planning, and spatial planning.
Equity + Justice | Climate change | Environmental Health + Well-being
Research Tracks
Planning sub-fields: environmental planning, food systems planning, community planning, and spatial planning
List of all projects since 2016
Current Projects
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Unearthing the Urban Agriculture–Environment Connection: Implications for UA Planning, Practice, and Policy (2024 - 2026)
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Sponsor - National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Mahbubur Meenar (PI), Asif Ishtiaque (Co-I), Md Shahinoor Rahman (Co-I), $300,000
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Greening Camden: Educating, Empowering, and Enriching Communities for Climate Action and Cleaner Air (2024 - 2026)
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Sponsor - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mahbubur Meenar (PI), Elizabeth Cerceo (Co-PI), Jagadish Torlapati (Co-PI), Qian He (Co-PI), and Ben Saracco (Co-PI), $100,000
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Local Fiscal Policy: Community Resilience and Infrastructure Adaptation Under Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Flood Hazards (2025 - 2027)​
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Sponsor - National Science Foundation (NSF), Qian He (PI), Deb Niemeier (Co-PI), Mahbubur Meenar (Co-PI), $499,653​
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Exploring Health and Social Benefits of Park Visits: The Dual Influence of Quality and Proximity (2025 - 2026)​
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Sponsor - New Jersey Health Foundation, Mahbubur Meenar (PI), $35,000​
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New Jersey State Plan Impact Assessment (2024 - 2025)
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Sponsor - New Jersey Office of Planning Advocacy, Kevin Keenan (PI), John Hasse (Co-PI), Mahbubur Meenar (Co-PI)​​, Zachary Christman (Co-PI), Qian He (Co-PI), $40,000​​​
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Evaluation Plans for Community Food Programs of Seven Agencies (2024)​
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Sponsor - Regional Foundation, Megan Bucknum (Consultant), Mahbubur Meenar (Consultant), $22,000​
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Machine Learning-based Predictive Analysis to Understand Public Health Risk from Heavy Metal Exposure in Camden (2024 - 2025)
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Sponsor - South Jersey Institute for Population Health, Paromita Nath (PI), Mahbubur Meenar (Co-PI), Thivanka Ariyarathna (Co-PI), Shaneka Boucher (Co-PI), and Iman Dehzangi (Co-PI), $24,988​
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Supporting Effective, Community-Informed Food (2024 - 2025)​
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Sponsor - South Jersey Institute for Population Health, Jeanine Cava (PI), Garrett Broad (Co-PI), Mahbubur Meenar (Co-PI), and Kate Cairns (Co-PI), $24,574
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Completed Projects
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​Camden Stormwater Heavy-Metal Analysis and Mapping Project (CASH-MAP) (2023 - 2024)​
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Sponsor - South Jersey Institute for Population Health, Mahbubur Meenar (PI), Thivanka Ariyarathna (Co-PI), Shaneka Boucher (Co-PI), and David Salas de la Cruz (Co-PI), $25,000
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Sponsor - National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Mahbubur Meenar (PI), Md Shahinoor Rahman (Co-I), Deepti Adlakha (Co-I), Ted Howell (Co-I), $100,000
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The EMoGI Project: Emotional Mapping of Green Infrastructure in Disadvantaged Urban Places​ (2022 - 2023)
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Sponsor - Rowan University Office of Research Development, Mahbubur Meenar (PI), Jennifer Kitson (Co-PI), and Ashley York (Co-PI), $25,000
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Glassboro Food & Health Equity Project (2020 - 2022)
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Sponsor - Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/ New Jersey Health Initiatives, Mahbubur Meenar (PI), Leslie Spencer (Co-PI), Melanie Stewart (Co-PI), $50,000
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Glassboro Food Hub - Technical Assistance Mini-Grant (2022)​
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Sponsor - Illinois Public Health Institute, Mahbubur Meenar (PI), $7,500​
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Glassboro-Camden Collaborative Learning on Food and Health Equity (2021 - 2022)​
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Sponsor - Healthy Places by Design, Mahbubur Meenar (PI), $15,000 ​
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Inclusive Healthy Community Grants Program (2021 - 2022)
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Sponsor - New Jersey Division of Disability Services, Leslie Spencer (PI), Dara LoBuono (Co-PI), and Mahbubur Meenar (Co-PI), $75,000 for a sub-award through The Family Resource Network (lead applicant, $250,000)
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Three-County Collaborative on Inclusive Community Gardens and Cooking with Fresh Produce​ (2022)
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Sponsor - MissionWorks/Healthy Places by Design, Leslie Spencer (PI), Mahbubur Meenar (Co-PI), and Dara LoBuono (Co-PI), $15,000
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MRI: Acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer for Multidiscipline Research and Education (2020 - 2023)
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Sponsor - National Science Foundation (NSF), Lei Yu (PI), Kauser Jahan (Co-PI), Tabbetha Dobbins (Co-PI), Harold Connolly (Co-PI), and James Grinias (Co-PI), Suzanne Bausch (Investigator), Gregory Caputo (Investigator), Renee Demarest (Investigator), Jeffrey Hettinger (Investigator), Subash Jonnalagadda (Investigator), Karen Magee-Sauer (Investigator), Mahbubur Meenar (Investigator), Elisha Moore (Investigator), Jane Rynex (Investigator), $144,389
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Urban Heat Islands and Green Infrastructure Connection: Resident Perceptions Linking Climate Change (2020 - 2022)
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Partner - Henry Rowan College of Engineering, Mahbubur Meenar (PI), Sarah Bauer (Co-PI), Md Shahinoor Rahman (Co-PI)
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What To Do About Community Food Insecurity? Is Online Grocery Delivery Model a Potential Solution in Camden, NJ? (2021 - 2022)
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Partner - Invincible City, Mahbubur Meenar (PI)
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New Jersey Underserved Communities Electric Vehicle​ Affordability Program (2020 - 2021)
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Sponsor - U.S. Department of Energy through New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Ayman Ali (PI), Mohammad Jalayer (Co-PI), Kevin Keenan (Co-PI), Jie Li (Co-PI), Mahbubur Meenar (Co-PI), $94,588​
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Watershed Storytelling: Connecting People, Place, and Water​ (2019 - 2021)
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Sponsor - New Jersey Council for the Humanities, Jennifer Kitson (PI), Megan Bucknum (Co-PI), Mahbubur Meenar (Co-PI), $20,000
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Brownfields Area-Wide Plan for Philadelphia's Lower North Delaware Industrial District (2017 - 2019)
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Sponsor - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mahbubur Meenar (PI), $200,000 in two phases
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Camden Waterfront South Green Infrastructure Master Plan (2018 - 2019)
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Sponsor - Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, ​Mahbubur Meenar (PI)​, $53,175
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Equitable Distribution of Green Stormwater Infrastructure Projects in Philadelphia (2017 - 2018)
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Sponsor - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program, through a subaward from Temple University (Laura Toran - PI, Lynn Mandarano - Co-PI), Mahbubur Meenar (PI for Rowan University), $41, 020 in two phases
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Watershed Storytelling: Experiential Tools for Connecting People, Place, and Water​ (2018 - 2019)
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Sponsor - New Jersey Council for the Humanities, Jennifer Kitson (PI), Mahbubur Meenar (Co-PI), Megan Bucknum (Co-PI), $5,000
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Using Immersive and Multi-Sensory Virtual Reality in Participatory Planning (2017 - 2018)
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Sponsor - Rowan University SEED grant, Mahbubur Meenar (PI), $10,000
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Listen. Record. Play. Equitable Placemaking and Environmental Park Design in Camden through Audio Storytelling​ (2018 - 2019)
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Sponsor - Rowan Research Experience for Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) grant, Jennifer Kitson (PI), Mahbubur Meenar (Co-PI), $5,000
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NJ Map Watershed Explorer (2017 - 2018)
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Sponsor - Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and Kirby Foundation, John Hasse (PI), Jennifer Kitson (Co-PI), Mahbubur Meenar (Co-PI), $82,000
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The Montessori School Stormwater Management and Landscape Master Plan (2016 - 2017)
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Sponsor - PA Department of Environmental Protection through Partnership for the Delaware Estuary and The Montessori School, Mahbubur Meenar (PI), $14,000
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