The Spring 2026 season of LA-SEER Talk: From Risk to Resilience will feature Dr. Kevin Smiley, Associate Professor, whose research examines the intersections of social inequality, environmental change, and disaster risk.

Dr. Smiley’s work focuses on how climate change and environmental hazards disproportionately impact marginalized communities, linking disaster vulnerability to race, health, immigration, place-making, and social capital. His research brings an environmental justice perspective to disaster risk analysis, including recent work on climate change attribution and unequal disaster impacts.

His scholarship spans three primary areas: disaster vulnerability and inequality; urban development and planning, highlighted in his co-authored book Market Cities, People Cities (NYU Press, 2018), which compares urban trajectories in Copenhagen and Houston; and health risks from industrial air pollution, where he investigates disparities across U.S. metropolitan regions and their underlying causes.

Dr. Smiley’s work has received national recognition, including an NSF CAREER Award, fellowships from the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research and the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies, and support through NSF’s Human, Disasters, and Built Environment initiatives. His research has been widely featured in major media outlets, reflecting its significance for policy, public health, and resilience planning.