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. 

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 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.

Dr. Alexandra Judelsohn is an assistant professor of urban and regional planning who pursues community-based research at the intersection of urban planning, public health, and environmental studies, centering the voices of community members. Her interests lie in 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, as well as the gaps these organizations fill in delivering services.

Judelsohn has been published in numerous journals, including the Journal of the American Planning Association, the Journal of Planning Education and Research, Journal of Refugee Studies, and Community Development. 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. Before coming to the University at Buffalo, she earned her PhD in urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan.