Michael Mendez
Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy
- Irvine CA UNITED STATES
Michael Mendez has experience in the public and private sectors, where he consulted and actively engaged in the policymaking process.
Media
Social
Biography
During his time at UC Irvine and Yale, he has contributed to state and national research policy initiatives, including serving as an advisor to a California Air Resources Board member, and as a participant of the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s workgroup on “Climate Vulnerability and Social Science Perspectives.” Most recently, Michael was appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to the Board on Environmental Change and Society (BECS). He also serves as a panel reviewer for the National Academies of Sciences’ Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP).
Michael holds three degrees in environmental planning and policy, including a PhD from UC Berkeley’s Department of City and Regional Planning, and a graduate degree from MIT. His research on the intersection of climate change and communities of color has been featured in national publications including Urban Land (published by the Urban Land Institute); the Natural Resources Defense Fund Annual Report; the American Planning Association’s Planning Magazine; Green 2.0: Leadership at Work; USA Today; and Fox Latino News. His new book “Climate Change from the Streets,” published through Yale University Press (2020), is an urgent and timely story of the contentious politics of incorporating environmental justice into global climate change policy.
Areas of Expertise
Accomplishments
Paul Davidoff Book Award
2023
Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP)
Practice and Outreach Award
2023
American Sociological Association (ASA) - Section on Environmental Sociology
Latino/a Water Pioneers, Leaders & Heroes Award
2023
Mujeres de la Tierra in collaboration with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Water Replenishment District
Harold & Margaret Sprout Award
2021
International Studies Association
Betty & Alfred McClung Lee Award
2021
Association for Humanist Sociology
Education
California State University, Northridge
BA
Urban Studies and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MCP
Environmental Planning and Policy
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
University of California, Berkeley
PhD
Science and Technology Studies and Environmental Policy
2015
Department of City and Regional Planning
Links
Media Appearances
Language barriers can create added challenges during Reno-area wildfire evacuations
KRXI Fox online
2026-08-24
Michael Méndez, an associate professor of urban planning and public policy at the University of California, Irvine, studies climate change, environmental justice and the effects of disasters on vulnerable populations. Méndez said historic practices such as redlining helped shape where many Latino and other minority families live today. … "When an impact such as a heat wave happens, many of the communities don't have green space, don't have parks, don't have trees and other types of cooling surfaces that'll bring down the ambient temperature," Méndez said.
‘That was fun.’ As L.A. burned, online gamblers bet on how much the fires would destroy
Los Angeles Times online
2026-08-18
“It’s morally reprehensible,” said Michael Méndez, an associate professor of urban planning and public policy at UC Irvine. “You’re essentially betting on a community’s devastation and human suffering.” The perverse incentive to create wildfires isn’t the only problem. There could also be incentives to ensure wildfires aren’t contained, further straining first responders and putting more communities at risk, Méndez said.
Who’s breathing the aftermath?
KPFK 90.7 FM online
2026-06-27
On “The Signal,” host Armando “Dino” Gudiño discusses a new UCLA study revealing the impact of the Lineage warehouse fire with Michael Méndez, UC Irvine associate professor of urban planning and public policy. “I think what’s important to remember is that the fire itself in the Lineage warehouse did not create these vulnerabilities. … This disaster for the Lineage fire really underscores how it can deepen some of these inequalities. Workers – in particular, Latino workers in this area – are the essential workers that keep our economy going and they’re being put at further risk because of the Lineage fire,” says Méndez.
This LA neighborhood is choked by smog. The solution: a network of sensors on offices, homes and bags
The Guardian online
2026-06-09
When wildfires swept across Sonoma county in 2020, researchers wanted to know the risks to farmworkers …. Michael Mendez, a UC Irvine professor who led the research, said there was misinformation at the time that it was safer to work in the fields at night – but the PurpleAir showed that nighttime air quality was sometimes worse than daytime. The sensors allowed both farmworkers and residents to make educated decisions, he said. … His research also opened his eyes to the challenges of air monitoring on a larger level.
A Trump council recommends overhauling FEMA. Here are 3 key changes
NPR – All Things Considered online
2026-05-06
To speed up funding, the council is recommending a change which is controversial among disaster experts. The council recommends that federal disaster assistance to local and state governments be determined by the conditions of the disaster itself. … Poor and rural areas that have historically seen less infrastructure investment could suffer, says Michael Méndez, a former member of FEMA's National Advisory Council and professor at University of California, Irvine.
Research Grants
Newkirk Faculty Fellow
University of California Irvine, Newkirk Center for Science & Society $5000
2023-2024
2024 Integrated and Equitable Climate Action (Land Use Planning and environmental Justice)
University of California, Office of the President
2023 -2026
2024 Seed Funding Opportunity for Mobilities to Mexico
University of California
2023-2024
Articles
Climate Change, Migration, and Health Disparities at and Beyond the US-Mexico Border
JAMA2024
In 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported that weather-related events had displaced approximately 21.5 million people worldwide each year between 1999 and 2019, more than twice the number of people displaced by conflict and violence.
Connecting physical and social science datasets: challenges and pathways forward
Environmental Research Communications2023
The integration of physical and social science data can enable novel frameworks, methodologies, and innovative solutions important for addressing complex socio-environmental problems. Unfortunately, many technical, procedural, and institutional challenges hamper effective data integration—detracting from interdisciplinary socio-environmental research and broader public impact.
Understanding Challenges to Health Equity in Climate Action and Land Use Planning
American Journal of Public Health (AJPH)2023
Cole et al. (p. 185 in this issue of AJPH) argue that health equity is crucial to addressing the human health consequences of climate change. They underscore how effective climate action requires meaningful public engagement processes focused on increasing community capacity and the power to reduce health disparities in marginalized neighborhoods.
Only One Earth: Global health and climate justice on world environment day and beyond
World Medical & Health Policy2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened and exposed existing health vulnerabilities and the race and class disproportionalities associated with health, economic, and social resource access. COVID-19 has revealed the depths to which inequities are entrenched in our everyday lives and local, national, and global structures.
Queer and present danger: understanding the disparate impacts of disasters on LGBTQ+ communities
Disasters2021
LGBTQ+ communities comprise 16 million individuals in the United States, yet this population is often rendered invisible within disaster policies. Bias in federal disaster response programmes, a lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ families, and the prevalence of faith-based organisations in disaster relief services together heighten the risks that LGBTQ+ individuals face.