Theodore Lim
Assistant Professor, Urban Affairs and Planning (UAP)
140 Otey St
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Blacksburg, VA 24061
- Ph.D., City & Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania, 2017
- M.S., Environmental Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University (China), 2011
- B.A., Immigrant Studies, Swarthmore College, 2007
- Urban climate adaptation
- Community engagement
- Science-policy interface
- SPIA 2005/2006: Introduction to Urban Analytics
- SPIA 2104: Urban Analytics for Decision-Making
- SPIA 4464: Data and the Art of Policy-Making and Planning
- SPIA 4854: Urban Infrastructure
- UAP 5125: Planning Studio: Real World Problems and Solutions
- “Recognizing political influences in participatory social-ecological systems modeling” Socio-Environmental Systems Modelling, with Pierre Glynn, Gary Shenk, Patrick Bitterman, Joseph Guillaume, DG Webster, and John Little (2023).
- “Comparison of different spatial temperature data sources and resolutions for use in understanding intra-urban heat variation” Sustainable Cities & Society, with Ayda Kianmehr* and Xiaojiang Li (2023). *PhD student advisee
- “The prospects of artificial intelligence in urban planning” International Journal of Urban Sciences, with Thomas W. Sanchez, Hannah Shumway, and Trey Gordner (2023). “Community-engaged heat resilience planning: lessons from a youth smart city STEM program” Landscape and Urban Planning, with Bev Wilson, Jacob R. Grohs, and Thomas J. Pingel (2022).
- “Quantifying interactive cooling effects of morphological parameters and vegetation-related landscape features during an extreme heat event” Climate, with Ayda Kianmehr* (2022). *PhD student advisee
- “Interdisciplinary inquiry and spatial green stormwater infrastructure research” Sustainability, with Lechuan Huang* and Shalini Misra (2022). *undergraduate student researcher
- “A technoeconomic analysis of negative emissions BECCS through pyrolysis and bioenergy district heating infrastructure” Environmental Science & Technology, with Amanda Cuellar, Kyle Langseth, and Jefferson L. Waldon (2022).
- “Comparison of machine learning algorithms for emulating a complex hydrologic model for spatial land use decision support” Computers and Geosciences, with Kaidi Wang (2022).
- “Patterns in environmental priorities revealed through open government data” Telematics and Informatics 64 (November): 101678. (2021).
- “Model emulators and complexity management at the environmental science-action interface” Environmental Modelling & Software, (2021).
- "Examining privilege and power in US urban parks and open space during the double crises of antiblack racism and COVID-19" Socio-Ecological Practice Research, with Fushcia Hoover (2020)
- “Rocky Steps towards Adaptive Management and Adaptive Governance in Implementing Green Infrastructure at Urban Scale in Philadelphia.” Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, with David Hsu and Ting Meng (2020)
- "Model emulators and complexity management at the environmental science-action interface" Environmental Modelling & Software (2020)
- “Use of the McHargian LUSA in agricultural research and decision-making in the age of non-stationarity and big earth observation data.” Socio-Ecological Practice Research (2019)
- “Assessing variability and uncertainty in green infrastructure planning using a high-resolution surface-subsurface hydrological model and site-monitored flow data,” with C. Welty, Frontiers of the Built Environment (2018)
- “An empirical study of spatial-temporal growth patterns of a voluntary residential green infrastructure program,” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management (2017)
- “Effects of spatial configuration of imperviousness and green infrastructure networks on hydrologic response in a residential sewershed,” with C. Welty, Water Resources Research (2017)
- “Predictors of urban variable source area: a cross-sectional analysis of urbanized catchments in the United States,” Hydrological Processes (2016)
- Trauma-informed, healing-centered heat resilience planning -- community-engaged planning with partners in the City of Roanoke, VA. This work is funded by the NOAA Environmental Literacy Program and the National Science Foundation Civic Innovation Challenge Program
- Use and development of computer models in socio-environmental systems planning and management. This work is funded by the the National Science Foundation CAREER program.
- Urban climate adaption
- Community and policy-engaged research
- Use of scientific and technical information in action and policy
- Local and scientific knowledge integration
- Urban heat resilience planning
- Governance of computer models
- Spatial and planning applications of artificial intelligence
- Distributed infrastructure implementation (green infrastructure, district energy, small-scale net negative emissions technologies)