Celina Balderas Guzmán (she/her)
Assistant Professor
Department of Landscape Architecture
College of Built Environments
celinabg@uw.edu
Balderas Guzmán Faculty page
What is your Research Focus?
Celina Balderas Guzmán, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture. Dr. Balderas Guzmán’s research spans environmental planning, design, and science and focuses on climate adaptation to sea level rise on the coast and urban stormwater inland. On the coast, her work using ecological modeling and geospatial analysis demonstrates specific ways that the climate adaptation actions of humans and adaptation of ecosystems are interdependent. Her work explores how these interdependencies can be either maladaptive by shifting vulnerabilities to other humans or non-humans, or synergistic. In particular, she focuses on interactions between humans and coastal wetlands ecosystems to inform cross-sectoral, equitable adaptation planning at a regional scale.
Inland, Dr. Balderas Guzmán’s studies urban stormwater through a social-ecological lens. Using data science and case studies, her work investigates the relationship between stormwater pollution and the social, urban form, and land cover characteristics of watersheds. In past research, she developed new typologies of stormwater wetlands based on lab testing in collaboration with environmental engineers. The designs closely integrated hydraulic performance, ecological potential, and recreational opportunities into one form.
Her research has been funded by major institutions such as the National Science Foundation, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, UC Berkeley, and the MIT Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab. She has a PhD in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, she obtained master’s degrees in urban planning and urban design as well as an undergraduate degree in architecture from MIT.
What opportunities at the UW excite you?
At UW, I am most excited about the many opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration on climate change as well as the opportunity to teach and train students who are deeply interested in climate change issues.