Kirsten Schwarz
Biographic Data
| ID | 3709198 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kirsten Schwarz |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kirsten |
| FAMILY NAME | Schwarz |
| SIGNATURE | SCHWARZ K |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Los Angeles |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8881-5711 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 15 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Soil access is an equity issue for urban climate resilience
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly used to build urban climate resilience by employing natural features and processes. Implementing NBS in urban residential areas relies on the availability of unsealed soil surfaces. Here we investigate how soil is distributed at fine spatial scales across Los Angeles County, the second largest metropolitan area in the United States, to examine the potential for NBS to be realized equitably. We delinea…
Efficient outdoor thermal comfort via radiant cooling and infrared-reflective walls
Unearthing the role of soils in urban climate resilience planning
Centering Racial Justice in Urban Flood Resilience Policy and Planning
Racial and spatial segregation in cities generate uneven exposure to current and future urban flood risks and worsen the economic and health consequences of flooding for Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities. In this article, we present a tool for practitioners to center racial justice in urban flood resilience policy and planning. This tool includes and operationalizes five principles for centering racial justice to produce …
Iterative scenarios for social-ecological systems
Managing social-ecological systems toward desirable regimes requires learning about the system being managed while preparing for many possible futures. Adaptive management (AM) and scenario planning (SP) are two systems management approaches that separately use learning to reduce uncertainties and employ planning to manage irreducible uncertainties, respectively. However, each of these approaches have limitations that confound management of socia…
Unearthing the entangled roots of urban agriculture
This study examines urban agriculture (UA) in Sacramento, California (USA), the nation's self-branded “Farm-to-Fork Capital,” in order to highlight UA’s distinct yet entangled roots. The study is based on 24 interviews with a diverse array of UA leaders, conducted as part of a five-year transdisciplinary study of UA in Sacramento. In it, we unearth three primary “taproots” of UA projects, each with its own historical legacies, normative visions, …
Green, but not just? Rethinking environmental justice indicators in shrinking cities
Weaving Community-University Research and Action Partnerships for environmental justice
This article is a case study of one Community-University Research and Action Partnership (CURAP) focused on soil lead, urban gardening, and environmental justice in Sacramento, California. We argue that creating and sustaining CURAPs requires a process of weaving together diverse strands of knowledge, resources, and lines of accountability that connect all parties involved. Like the physical process of weaving fabric, weaving CURAPs involve creat…
Media Frames and Shifting Places of Environmental (In)Justice
Newspapers are underused as a source of spatial data in environmental justice research. Recent advances in qualitative historical geographic information systems (QHGIS) provide an opportunity for deeper investigation into how newspapers reflect changing meanings of place in relation to environmental burden and environmental benefit. This article introduces a protocol to identify and map locations associated with different media frames. We apply Q…
Legacies of Lead in Charm City’s Soil
Understanding the spatial distribution of soil lead has been a focus of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study since its inception in 1997. Through multiple research projects that span spatial scales and use different methodologies, three overarching patterns have been identified: (1) soil lead concentrations often exceed state and federal regulatory limits; (2) the variability of soil lead concentrations is high; and (3) despite multiple sources and the …
Trees Grow on Money
This study examines the distributional equity of urban tree canopy (UTC) cover for Baltimore, MD, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Raleigh, NC, Sacramento, CA, and Washington, D.C. using high spatial resolution land cover data and census data. Data are analyzed at the Census Block Group levels using Spearman's correlation, ordinary least squares regression (OLS), and a spatial autoregressive model (SAR). Across all cities there is…
Data and Methods Comparing Social Structure and Vegetation Structure of Urban Neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland
Recent advances in remote sensing and the adoption of geographic information systems (GIS) have greatly increased the availability of high-resolution spatial and attribute data for examining the relationship between social and vegetation structure in urban areas. There are several motivations for understanding this relationship. First, the United States has experienced a significant increase in the extent of urbanized land. Second, urban forester…
Weaving Community-University Research and Action Partnerships for environmental justice
This article is a case study of one Community-University Research and Action Partnership (CURAP) focused on soil lead, urban gardening, and environmental justice in Sacramento, California. We argue that creating and sustaining CURAPs requires a process of weaving together diverse strands of knowledge, resources, and lines of accountability that connect all parties involved. Like the physical process of weaving fabric, weaving CURAPs involve creat…
Data and Methods Comparing Social Structure and Vegetation Structure of Urban Neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland
Recent advances in remote sensing and the adoption of geographic information systems (GIS) have greatly increased the availability of high-resolution spatial and attribute data for examining the relationship between social and vegetation structure in urban areas. There are several motivations for understanding this relationship. First, the United States has experienced a significant increase in the extent of urbanized land. Second, urban forester…
Unearthing the entangled roots of urban agriculture
This study examines urban agriculture (UA) in Sacramento, California (USA), the nation's self-branded “Farm-to-Fork Capital,” in order to highlight UA’s distinct yet entangled roots. The study is based on 24 interviews with a diverse array of UA leaders, conducted as part of a five-year transdisciplinary study of UA in Sacramento. In it, we unearth three primary “taproots” of UA projects, each with its own historical legacies, normative visions, …
Data and Methods Comparing Social Structure and Vegetation Structure of Urban Neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland
Recent advances in remote sensing and the adoption of geographic information systems (GIS) have greatly increased the availability of high-resolution spatial and attribute data for examining the relationship between social and vegetation structure in urban areas. There are several motivations for understanding this relationship. First, the United States has experienced a significant increase in the extent of urbanized land. Second, urban forester…
Trees Grow on Money
This study examines the distributional equity of urban tree canopy (UTC) cover for Baltimore, MD, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Raleigh, NC, Sacramento, CA, and Washington, D.C. using high spatial resolution land cover data and census data. Data are analyzed at the Census Block Group levels using Spearman's correlation, ordinary least squares regression (OLS), and a spatial autoregressive model (SAR). Across all cities there is…
Media Frames and Shifting Places of Environmental (In)Justice
Newspapers are underused as a source of spatial data in environmental justice research. Recent advances in qualitative historical geographic information systems (QHGIS) provide an opportunity for deeper investigation into how newspapers reflect changing meanings of place in relation to environmental burden and environmental benefit. This article introduces a protocol to identify and map locations associated with different media frames. We apply Q…
Legacies of Lead in Charm City’s Soil
Understanding the spatial distribution of soil lead has been a focus of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study since its inception in 1997. Through multiple research projects that span spatial scales and use different methodologies, three overarching patterns have been identified: (1) soil lead concentrations often exceed state and federal regulatory limits; (2) the variability of soil lead concentrations is high; and (3) despite multiple sources and the …
Weaving Community-University Research and Action Partnerships for environmental justice
This article is a case study of one Community-University Research and Action Partnership (CURAP) focused on soil lead, urban gardening, and environmental justice in Sacramento, California. We argue that creating and sustaining CURAPs requires a process of weaving together diverse strands of knowledge, resources, and lines of accountability that connect all parties involved. Like the physical process of weaving fabric, weaving CURAPs involve creat…
Green, but not just? Rethinking environmental justice indicators in shrinking cities
Unearthing the entangled roots of urban agriculture
This study examines urban agriculture (UA) in Sacramento, California (USA), the nation's self-branded “Farm-to-Fork Capital,” in order to highlight UA’s distinct yet entangled roots. The study is based on 24 interviews with a diverse array of UA leaders, conducted as part of a five-year transdisciplinary study of UA in Sacramento. In it, we unearth three primary “taproots” of UA projects, each with its own historical legacies, normative visions, …
Centering Racial Justice in Urban Flood Resilience Policy and Planning
Racial and spatial segregation in cities generate uneven exposure to current and future urban flood risks and worsen the economic and health consequences of flooding for Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities. In this article, we present a tool for practitioners to center racial justice in urban flood resilience policy and planning. This tool includes and operationalizes five principles for centering racial justice to produce …
Iterative scenarios for social-ecological systems
Managing social-ecological systems toward desirable regimes requires learning about the system being managed while preparing for many possible futures. Adaptive management (AM) and scenario planning (SP) are two systems management approaches that separately use learning to reduce uncertainties and employ planning to manage irreducible uncertainties, respectively. However, each of these approaches have limitations that confound management of socia…
Unearthing the role of soils in urban climate resilience planning
Soil access is an equity issue for urban climate resilience
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly used to build urban climate resilience by employing natural features and processes. Implementing NBS in urban residential areas relies on the availability of unsealed soil surfaces. Here we investigate how soil is distributed at fine spatial scales across Los Angeles County, the second largest metropolitan area in the United States, to examine the potential for NBS to be realized equitably. We delinea…
Efficient outdoor thermal comfort via radiant cooling and infrared-reflective walls
Geography (8 works) · Urban Green Space and Health (7 works) · Ecology (6 works) · Environmental resource management (6 works) · Environmental Science (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Environmental justice (5 works) · Environmental planning (5 works) · Land Use and Ecosystem Services (5 works)