Biography
Meaghan McSorley, Ph.D., earned her doctorate in City and Regional Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2023.
All of Dr. McSorely’s research addresses a central question: How can planners and communities work together toward healthy, equitable, and thriving communities for everyone? Her research spans theory, practice, and pedagogy to explore how planners can support equitable local decision-making processes by cultivating a reflective practice and intentional, strategic action. She conducts mixed methods experimental research in the classroom to develop educational strategies to enhance planners’ emotional intelligence, among other qualities and capacities. She also works on community-based projects that explore healthy community development topics, such as urban agriculture and climate change impacts at the neighborhood scale. Ultimately, her work supports planners and communities as they collaboratively imagine their thriving futures and identify steps we can take right now to move towards those futures.
Education
PhD, City and Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023
MPH, Public Health, University of Minnesota, 2019
MURP, Urban and Regional Planning, University of Minnesota, 2019
BA, Anthropology and French, Cornell University, 2013
Selected Publications
McSorley, M., Akhurst, B., Hall, M., Ringania, U., Spyrou, I.M., Zha, Y., Duchesneau, K., Chang, M. (accepted). For graduate students to become leaders in sustainability, we must transcend disciplinary boundaries. Elementa.
Botchwey, N., McSorley, M., and Dowd, M.* (in press). Cities where people flourish: how to promote health, equity, and sustainability, in The Case for Cities. New York: Routledge.
Botchwey, N., McSorley, M., and Umstattd Meyer, R. (2022). Chapter 2: Physical Activity and the Built Environment, in Making Healthy Places (2nd edition). California: Island Press.
McSorley, M. (2021). Public Art, History, and Resistance in Blandtown. Places Journal. https://placesjournal.org/workshop-article/public-art-history-and-resistance-in-blandtown/
