Dr. Michelle E. Zuñiga

Michelle E. Zuñiga holds a PhD in Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy from the University of California, Irvine. Since 2012, Michelle has focused on Latinx communities particularly, low-income, immigrant communities and how they experience and respond to neighborhood change, environmental injustice, threats of displacement, and anti-immigrant sentiment. Michelle explores their perspectives and experiences in the context of planning processes and urban policy taking shape in their communities. In parallel, Michelle also researches the implementation and challenges of urban and environmental justice land use policy (i.e., California’s SB 1000 and Surplus Lands Act, and Santa Ana, CA’s Sunshine Ordinance) that call for drastic changes to how planning is conducted, how residents are engaged, and how future development is approved. Michelle uses qualitative tools, participatory action research methods, and interdisciplinary approaches to better understand the multifaceted dimensions of urban complexities related to neighborhood change and environmental justice.