Laura Solitare is the Associate Director of Texas Southern University’s HUD Center of Excellence for Housing and Community Development Policy Research.  She is also an associate professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy in the Barbara Jordan – Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. She has a Ph.D from the Department of Urban Planning and Policy Development at Rutgers University, a masters of urban and regional planning from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a B.S. (natural resources management) from the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on the issues of equity and justice in urban transformation, with an emphasis on public participation in decision-making regarding changes in the built environment. Taking a broad perspective on environmental and land-use planning, her research addresses the question of how planning can increase the livability of built environments (particularly those in environmentally distressed areas) while also promoting the equitable distribution of environmental and economic benefits. Her research has appeared in several journals, including Local Environment, Risk Analysis, Urban Affairs Review, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Environmental Health Perspectives, and Journal of Environmental Management.