Esther Sullivan

Esther Sullivan is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado Denver, with expertise in poverty, environmental inequality, legal regulation, and the built environment. Her research centers on housing, particularly examining intersecting environmental, financial, and legal inequalities in manufactured housing communities. She is a Nonresident Fellow at the Urban Institute's Housing Policy and Finance Center and a past University of Colorado Denver Chancellor's Urban Engaged Scholar.

• Ph.D. in Sociology, University of Texas at Austin
• M.A. in Sociology, University of Texas at Austin
• B.A. in Sociology, University of Chicago

Her scholarly focus lies in urban sociology, examining exclusionary land-use practices, housing insecurity, and climate resilience. Recent publications highlight manufactured housing as a critical yet marginalized affordable housing infrastructure, analyze neighborhood morphology's role in segregation, and explore community science applications for environmental justice. Her 2018 book Manufactured Insecurity received the Robert Park Award for outstanding urban research.

Esther's work spans interdisciplinary collaborations with environmental scientists, policymakers, and community advocates to address housing justice. Her 2024-2025 research explores federal policy opportunities for manufactured housing resilience, community science air monitoring, and transportation infrastructure impacts on wellbeing.

Scientific recognitions include:

• 2019 Robert Park Award for Manufactured Insecurity
• Chancellor’s Urban Engaged Scholar at CU Denver