Bernadette V. Baird-Zars

Bernadette V. Baird-Zars, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Her research focuses on land use planning, implementation, and environmental justice in socio-ecologically precarious regions. She joined the Bloustein School in 2023 after postdoctoral work at Columbia University on flooding adaptation and post-disaster recovery.

Education:

• PhD in Urban Planning, Columbia University
• Master of City Planning (MCP), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• B.A. Special Honors Major in Education and Political Science, Swarthmore College

Research Interests:

• Land use policy and local governance
• Environmental justice in urban planning
• Institutional analysis of zoning and regulatory practices
• Transition and uncertainty in socio-ecological systems
• Planning ethics and longitudinal data methodologies

Her recent work explores how municipal practices in peri-urban Mexico and conflict zones like Syria shape land use through 'gray' institutions. Publications emphasize equitable governance in climate adaptation and zoning's role as a dynamic policy tool. She co-authored Zoning: A Guide for 21st-Century Planning (Routledge 2019), blending scholarship with practical planning frameworks.

Professional experience includes over a decade with development banks and NGOs on affordable housing in Latin America, the Middle East, and the U.S., including fieldwork in Aleppo, Syria. Her work bridges academic research with actionable policy solutions.