People

Serena Hoermann, Ph.D., AICP, MBA
Director, Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions, Assistant Research Professor, School of Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sustainability
shoermann@fau.edu
(561) 455-7948

Serena Hoermann, Ph.D., AICP, MBA,  serves as 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 “My Streetscape Summer Research Institute.” As program manager for the FAU Partnership for Sustainable Communities, she connected university resources to support community planning. She founded the Urban Stories Festival, using storytelling to build community. Her doctorate in public administration focused on urban planning and policy.

Google Scholar

Read In the Lab.

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.

Serena received both a Bachelor of Science Cum Laude in Systems and Information Science and an MBA in Marketing and International Business from Syracuse University. Besides her work for FAU, Serena writes short stories and children’s books. She also organizes events for authors and youth through her non-profit organization.

Dr. Besser is a Research Assistant Professor at University of Miami’s 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. Journal of the American Planning Association 89(4), 472-486.  https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2022.2096100

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, 1–15, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2022.2096100

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: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126484

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: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2020.102459

Fred Bloetscher, Ph.D 
Associate Dean,
Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering
fbloetsc@fau.edu
(561) 297-0744

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: http://dx.doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v5i2.1271

Steven C. Bourassa, Ph.D

H. Jon and Judith M. Runstad Endowed Professor and Chair, Runstad Department of Real Estate, College of Built Environments, University of Washington
sbour22@uw.edu
Curriculum vitae

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: https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098020982508

South Florida Property Values Studies: Sea Level Rise and Walkability Steven Bourassa, PhD

L.A. Merlin, S. Bourassa, M. Hoesli, and J.R. Renne report findings from their project, A Comparison of the Impacts of Alternative Walkability Measures on House Values.

Jyothi Chava
Affiliated Scholar
fau_jchava@fau.edu
732-520-9552

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 – 2020. Journal of the American Planning Association, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2021.1920453

Jeffrey E. Huber, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
Assistant Professor
School of Architecture
huberj@fau.edu
(954) 762-5654

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).

FAU faculty and students in urban planning and architecture engaged with city staff to produce a place-based framework proposing land use, transportation, and urban planning recommendations. Download the 2019 FAU-JTD framework.

Yanmei Li, Ph.D., AICP
Associate Professor
Department of Urban & Regional Planning
yli22@fau.edu
(561) 297-4282

Dr. Li’s 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
Yanmei Li, PhD, AICP; John Renne, PhD, AICP; Serena Hoermann, PhD Candidate
Read the research FAU South Florida Community Satisfaction Survey Digital Pages

Louis Merlin, Ph.D., AICP
Assistant Professor,
Department of Urban & Regional Planning
lmerlin@fau.edu
(561) 440-3185

Dr. Merlin’s 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2022.100572

L.A. Merlin, S. Bourassa, M. Hoesli, and J.R. Renne report findings from their project, A Comparison of the Impacts of Alternative Walkability Measures on House Values.

Diana Mitzova, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Director, Visual Planning Technology Lab
Department of Urban & Regional Planning
John DeGrove Eminent Scholar Chair in Growth Management and Development
Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Geosciences
dmitsova@fau.edu
(561) 297-4279

Dr. Mitsova’s 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
Alka Sapat, PhD & Diana Mitsova, PhD. Read the research Sapat Mitsova Disaster Resilience of Older Adults in S. Florida 11-18-2020 led by Alka Sapat

Colin Polsky, Ph.D.
Professor of Geosciences, College of Science
Director of the Florida Center for Environmental Studies
cpolsky@fau.edu
(954) 236-1104

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 FAU Incubator for Sustainable & Resilient Communities.

In 2017, two FAU research centers, CUES and the Florida Center for Environmental Studies (CES) jointly produced a workshop to engage experts with the City of Hollywood and the City of West Palm Beach. City leaders departed with the group’s short and long-term recommended actions, strategies for accomplishing those actions, and a renewed sense of optimism for implementation in their community. https://www.fau.edu/science/departments/urban-regional-planning/research/cues/events/2017-fau-incubator-for-sustainable-resilient-communities/report.pdf

Alka Sapat, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
School of Public Administration
asapat@fau.edu
(561) 297-0443 

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 Sapat Mitsova Disaster Resilience of Older Adults in S. Florida 11-18-2020

Hank Savitch, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
hsavitch@fau.edu
(502) 533-5465 

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’s 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. 

Josh Sawislak, AICP
Affiliate Professional
josh.sawislak@fau.edu
(703) 981-9424
Curriculum Vitae

Mr. Sawislak is an internationally recognized expert on climate and disaster resilience and sustainable development. He advises governments, corporations, international organizations, and NGOs on policy, implementation, and financial issues around building sustainable and resilient infrastructure in both the developed and developing world.

Protecting South Florida: A Discussion of Sea Level Rise, Property and Regional Planning , aims to help local governments protect the region’s 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. 

Wen Zhang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher

Wen received a BS in Computational Mathematics and Applied Software from Shanghai Normal University in 2002, an MSE in Software Engineering from East China Normal University in 2005, a PhD in Computational Mathematics from Shanghai University in 2009, and an MS in Applied Mathematics from Michigan Technological University in 2012. He held research positions at Baylor College of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Florida Atlantic University. He joined the Center for Omics technologies and Data Engineering (CODE) in 2026, where he collaborates with our group and others across the university.

Renne, John; Zhang, Wen; Hoermann, Serena, 2026, "50 Years TOD Database (United States)", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/IDYNHO, Harvard Dataverse, V1

Jenifar Selim

Graduate Research Assistant, Urban and Regional Planning

Jenifar Selim is a graduate (MURP) student currently in her last semester at FAU. She holds a bachelor’s degree in urban planning from Bangladesh. She is currently working as a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) under the supervision of Dr. Melina Matos. This summer 2026 she joined CUES through the NSF Center for Smart Streetscapes. Jenifar received the prestigious FAU Presidential Fellowship for 2024-2026.

Sara Sevilla

Undergraduate Research Fellow, Urban and Regional Planning

Sara Sevilla is a WLW-ECOS Research Fellow with the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions (CUES) at Florida Atlantic University and a student in the Urban and Regional Planning program with a GIS minor. She recently participated in the Earth Fair at the North Miami Public Library, where she helped engage the public through a virtual reality program that demonstrated sea level rise and flooding impacts in South Florida. Her professional goal is to use planning and GIS to help create more sustainable, resilient, and livable communities.