Sean Francis Kennedy

Sean Francis Kennedy serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is an affiliate of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies. His research examines the intersection of energy infrastructure development, climate change adaptation, and land governance with geographic focus on Indonesia, the Philippines, and California.

His primary research interests include energy transition governance, climate vulnerability in agricultural and urban systems, and land acquisition policies for renewable projects. Work spans comparative analysis of Southeast Asian energy markets and California's climate policy implementation, emphasizing socio-political dimensions of sustainable development. Key themes involve investor-state relations in green infrastructure and equity implications of climate adaptation strategies.

Publication trends reveal consistent focus on energy transition challenges, with recent work analyzing community choice aggregation models in California (2021), solar energy risks in Los Angeles (2022), and climate displacement in cocoa farming (2022). The 2024 Indonesia-Philippines study demonstrates ongoing international comparative work on renewable energy governance frameworks.

His research has received significant media attention including coverage in 11+ news outlets regarding cocoa farmer vulnerability (January 2022) and solar industry climate risks (March 2022), with substantial academic engagement through Mendeley readership and policy citations.