Faculty
Christopher De Sousa, Co-Director
e-mail: desousa@uwm.edu
Christopher De Sousa has over a decade of experience in brownfields redevelopment, environmental/ecosystem planning, and sustainable urban development. He is an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a member of the Urban Studies faculty, and Co-Director of the Brownfields Research Consortium. His primary research activities focus on various aspects of brownfields redevelopment in the United States and Canada. He is also actively involved in community-based research and work involving urban environmental management and sustainability reporting. His recent book, Brownfields Redevelopment and the Quest for Sustainability (Elsevier/Emerald Group, 2008) examines the role that brownfields redevelopment is playing and can play in the US and Canada to build better places for urban dwellers to live, work, and play.
Joel Rast, Co-Director
e-mail: jrast@uwm.edu
Joel Rast is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Urban Studies and Director of the Center for Economic Development at UW-Milwaukee. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in political science from the University of Oregon and a B.A. in sociology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. His research interests include urban economic restructuring, brownfields redevelopment, industry clusters, and environmental politics. His book, Remaking Chicago: The Political Origins of Urban Industrial Change (Northern Illinois University Press, 1999) examines the role of local politics in the deindustrialization of Chicago's central area during the post World War Two era.
Prior to joining the faculty at UWM, Professor Rast was a researcher at the Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago, where he directed the Center's Freight Transportation Initiative and managed several federal government contracts addressing environmental justice and public involvement in transportation decision-making.
Ryan Holifield, Center Scientist
e-mail: holifiel@uwm.edu
Ryan Holifield is Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He holds an M.A. in Geography from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Minnesota. His research activities focus on environmental justice issues in risk assessment and remediation of hazardous waste sites.
Nancy Frank, Center Scientist
e-mail: frankn@uwm.edu
Nancy Frank is Acting Dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning and Associate Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She holds a M.S. and Ph.D. in planning from State University of New York-Albany. Her research interest involves land use policies that preserve open space and reduce the development impacts on the environment. She has substantial policy experience in brownfield cleanup and redevelopment. Nancy Frank is the Academic Chair on the Executive Team of the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Brownfields Association. Her extensive community work includes: President of the Urban Open Space Foundation, member of the Community Open Space Partnership Steering Team, and member of the Stewardship Plan for Lincoln Creek Planning Team.
Linda McCarthy, Center Scientist
e-mail: lmccarth@uwm.edu
Linda McCarthy is an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a member of the Urban Studies faculty at UW-Milwaukee. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Minnesota. Her research activities focus on urban and regional economic development and planning in the USA, Europe, and China. Her recent work has been on brownfield redevelopment, regional cooperation, competition among localities for private-sector investment and jobs, the automobile industry, and the globalization of the economy. She also is active in community work involving brownfield redevelopment.
Changshan Wu, Center Scientist e-mail: cswu@uwm.edu
Changshan Wu is an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received his M.S. in Remote Sensing from Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Ph.D. in Geography from the Ohio State University. His research activities focus on geographic information science, remote sensing, housing market, and urban growth analyses. His recent work has been on assessing the influences of brownfield sites and redevelopment projects on surrounding residential property values.
