Category Archives: Researchers

Alissa Ujie Diamond

Alissa Ujie Diamond is an assistant professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. Diamond’s work focuses on histories of spatialized inequity and action-research as a basis for systems change in the contemporary world. As an interdisciplinary scholar, she draws on an early career in applied architectural and landscape design as well as scholarly frameworks from environmental history, geography, plant humanities, urban planning, and ethnic studies.

Her historical research focuses on racial capitalism and spatial development, probing how social hierarchies have been produced through city-building practices and structures, and how these uneven processes of extraction reach into the present. Her work makes visible the processes and histories of racialized extraction, and explores material, ecological, and social entanglements across time and space to recover possibilities for worlding beyond extractive capitalism.

Her future-facing work focuses on historically-informed and community-driven research for intervention in current institutional systems. In this part of her research, she works across various dimensions. First, her work assesses current institutional frameworks through the lens of equity, and aims to build institutional structures that center action-research for institutional accountability and redistribution of power and knowledge. Her work also combines historical examination and critical ethnic studies frameworks with contemporary technologies to build ethical tools for redistribution of power and resources. Finally, she draws on her background as a landscape architect and artist to develop methods for engaging art, making, and design to build solidarities and shared historical understandings of place and people.

Della Miller

Ms. Della Miller is the 2024 Community Advisor for Research that is Equitable (CARE) Fellow in the UB Food Lab, where she provides guidance and advice on all Buffalo-focused community-related research projects. She is a passionate advocate and experienced consultant in multiple spheres, including community health, education and generational wealth for underserved and low-income communities. A distinguished leader in the field of food equity, Ms. Miller has founded or co-founded multiple food-related initiatives in Buffalo, NY, including St. Augustine’s Food Co-Op and Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers Food Co-Op. As a trained food service expert, she has supported the planning, design, and execution of commercial kitchens with a view toward health and safety. Additionally, she has lent her expertise as a member of the Black Farmers United – NYS, and Buffalo Black Chamber of Commerce, and as a board member of the Clean Air Coalition. She currently serves on the board of Buffalo Freedom Gardens, Inc., a not-for-profit organization committed to helping people grow their own food to support their destinies, and provide for their families while building a loving, healing community that is thriving, healthy and well.

Matthew Tilly

Matthew Tilly graduated from Binghamton University (SUNY) with a dual Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies – Environmental Policy & Law, and Geography – Urban & Regional Planning. Since completing his undergraduate studies, he has worked for the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation in Albany, and is currently employed with the Warren County Government in Lake George, both positions utilizing Geographic Information Systems. Before going back to school, Matthew planned to acquire years of experience in the professional world. His career trajectory moving forward is to pursue a Master’s Degree in Sustainable Urban Planning. In the Food Lab, Matthew will be working alongside the GIS team to update and maintain the two dashboards for the CHEER project, in addition to completing data analysis tasks as needed. His hobbies include video and board games, playing tennis, and spending time with his family’s two labrador retrievers.

Faithwin Gbadamos

Faithwin Gbadamos is a PhD student in the Department of Geography. Her research is centered on the nexus of sustainability, health, and development. Her research seeks to answer questions about environmental degradation linked to food security, livelihood impacts, and adaptation strategies. She uses the power of geospatial analysis to gain insights into the relationship between spatial dynamics and social factors. At the Food lab, Faithwin is responsible for tasks involving geographic information.

Prior to starting her PhD, Faithwin explored diverse sectors, including energy and telecommunications, providing her with firsthand insights into these sectors and the critical need for sustainable practices. This experience solidified her unwavering commitment to environmental sustainability and health. Faithwin graduated from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria with a bachelor’s degree in Geography.

Carlos J. Calderon Jr

Carlos J. Calderon Jr is an undergraduate student at UB majoring in biomedical sciences and pursuing minors in public health and urban planning. A life-long resident of the East Side, he is invested in understanding the social and environmental determinants of health and putting this knowledge to action in the field of medicine. His lived experiences drive his passion to strive for equity in the physical areas where he grew up, which have shaped his academic pursuits. His long-term goal is to influence legislative change for health equity. Carlos is a McNair Scholar and a member of the Honors College and Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program.

In the Food Lab, Carlos is beginning preliminary work on a research project which aims to explore the impact of people’s inaccessibility to food on public health in the East Side. In his free time, Carlos enjoys running, biking, and eating at new places.

Kahad Adamu

A doctoral student in urban and regional planning, Kahad Adamu is interested in the political ecology of gold mining in Sub-Saharan Africa and managing natural resources (land and water), land management and administration, and affordable housing.

At the Food Lab, Kahad works on a variety of analytical projects. He is currently investigating the racial disparities in the spatial distribution of retail food destinations in Erie County. He is also involved in the Healthy Corner Store Initiative (HCSI) project.

Before joining UB, Kahad earned an MSc in Urban Development Planning from University College London (UCL) and a BSc (Hons) in Land Economy from KNUST in Ghana. Kahad previously worked as an adjunct lecturer at Kumasi Technical University in Kumasi, Ghana, where he taught courses such as Land Use Planning and Administration and Property Rating and Taxation. He also worked with the Land Resources and Management Center (LRMC) on projects that examined urban governance and informal settlement in Ghana’s capital city.

Micaela Lipman

Micaela F. Lipman is a PhD candidate in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Buffalo. Lipman’s work draws on queer crip and anti-adultist theoretical frameworks to (re)imagine systems of inclusion/exclusion within urban and regional planning, and more specifically within food system planning. Lipman views food as connective tissue across communities and uses the food system as a lens through which to examine equity. As a disabled scholar, Lipman is especially interested in unraveling how chronic illness is experienced via food system entanglements. Lipman enjoys teaching at the University at Buffalo and unpacking the ethics of engaging with local communities in planning studies. Lipman has worked in academia and the nonprofit sector for over ten years exploring creative solutions at the nexus of adolescent development, food policy, disability justice, and community engagement. Prior to the University at Buffalo, Lipman graduated from Cornell University with a BA in Development Sociology with minors in International Development and Applied Economics.

Alexandra Judelsohn

Dr. Alexandra Judelsohn pursues community-based research at the intersection of urban planning, public health, and environmental studies, centering the voices of community members. Her interests are around how cities facing austerity urbanism market themselves to potential residents, and her current research examines the role of refugee-led community organizations in U.S. refugee resettlement and the gaps these organizations fill in delivering services.

Judelsohn has been published in numerous journals, including the Journal of the American Planning Association, Community Development, and Frontiers. She is a co-editor on a book, Planning for Equitable Urban Agriculture in the USA: Future Directions for a new Ethic in City Building, which will be published in 2024. Prior to coming to the University at Buffalo, she earned her PhD in urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan.