Preparing For Change: Creating Resilient Communities

Bio: Lori Feild Schwarz, AICP is the Interim Director of Planning for the City of Galveston. She oversees the planning division and also serves as Historic Preservation Officer for the City. Ms. Schwarz was hired by the City in 2001 and has participated in numerous city-wide planning efforts, including: 2001 Comprehensive Plan, Beach Access Plan, Hazard Mitigation Plan, Disaster Response Plan for Historic Properties, and the Long-Term Recovery Plan for the City of Galveston. She is currently supervising the large-scale Progress Galveston project, which includes a comprehensive revision of the City’s land development regulations and numerous specialized plans.

Education: The University of Georgia, Master's degree, Historic Preservation; University of Maryland: College Park, Bachelor's of Science degree, Interior Design

Past Assignments: American Planning Association, Planners’ Training Service, Ft. Worth, TX, November 2011 and Philadelphia, PA, June 2012. Subject: Preparing for Change: Creating Resilient Communities

Bio: Shannon Van Zandt, Ph.D., AICP, is Associate Professor, Director of the Center for Housing & Urban Development, and Coordinator of the Master of Urban Planning Program at Texas A&M University. Her work centers on the spatial distribution of housing and its consequences for vulnerable populations. Van Zandt connects her research to both the education of planning graduate students and the planning profession through engagement with real communities along the Texas Coast and elsewhere. She is a faculty fellow of the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center, the Center for Texas Beaches & Shores, and the Institute for Sustainable Coastal Communities. Her graduate-level planning courses include courses in land use planning methods, planning history and theory, professional communications, and housing policy. She holds a Ph.D. in city & regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Education: Ph.D., City & Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2004 M. Urban Planning, Texas A&M University, 1997 B. Environmental Design, Texas A&M University, 1993

Key Publications: Select publications Van Zandt, S., W.G. Peacock, D. Henry, H. Grover, W. Highfield, and S. Brody. 2012. Mapping Social Vulnerability to Enhance Housing and Neighborhood Resilience. Housing Policy Debate 22(1): 29-55. Xiao, Y. and S. Van Zandt. 2012. Building Community Resiliency: Spatial Links between Households and Businesses in Post-Disaster Recovery. Urban Studies 49(11):2523-2542. Van Zandt, S. and W.M. Rohe. 2011. The Sustainability of Low-income Homeownership: The Incidence of Unexpected Costs and Needed Repairs Among Low-Income Home Buyers. Housing Policy Debate 21(2): 317-341. Van Zandt, S. and P. Mhatre. 2009. Growing Pains: Perpetuating the Inequality of Opportunity through the Production of Low-income Housing in the Dallas Metroplex. Urban Geography 30 (5): 490-513.

Past Assignments: Preparing for Change: Building Resilient Communities (co-taught, primary instructor/facilitator). Presented at the Spring 2012 Planners Training Service of the American Planning Association, Philadelphia PA, June 14-15, 2012 and Ft. Worth, TX, November 11-12, 2011. Van Zandt, S. (presenter), Sara Hamideh, and W.G. Peacock. 2012. Tracking Housing Recovery in Galveston after Hurricane Ike. International Research Committee on Disasters, Boulder CO, July 18, 2012. Van Zandt, S. (presenter), W.G. Peacock, D. Henry, and S. Willems. Demographic Impacts of Natural Disasters. Urban Affairs Association Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, April 21, 2012. Van Zandt, S. and Lori Feild Schwarz. 2012. Measuring Resilience. Invited presentation to the Houston-Galveston Area Council Sustainable Communities Coordinating Committee, August 28, 2012. Van Zandt, S. 2012. Fair Housing and Social Vulnerability in the Houston-Galveston Region. Presented at “Integrating Houston/Galveston Area Communities.” Sponsored by the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service. August 8. 2012, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX.