Sara Nusair
PhD Student in Regional Planning
Sara Nusair is a Ph.D. student in the Regional Planning program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research focuses on extreme heat adaptation strategies and their effectiveness across different climate zones, with a particular emphasis on traditional and vernacular approaches to climate adaptation.
Currently, Sara serves as the GIS Library TA at UMass Libraries. She is part of the Cultural Landscapes of the Hopewell Earthworks Research team supervised by Professor Elizabeth Brabec, applying her GIS skills to study the spatial distribution of Hopewell Earthworks in Ohio. Last year she served as the Ph.D. assistant coordinating the 8th Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning: Healing Place and Planet. In that role, she contributed as a committee member and editor of the Book of Abstracts for the conference’s 8th proceedings. She also participated in the 4-Town Housing Needs Assessment for the Windham Region in Vermont.
Sara holds a Master’s degree in Urban Studies with a concentration in City Planning and Design from the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST). Her professional experience includes working as an urban designer on the KABAC city center renovation project in Jordan and teaching first-year design studios as a part-time lecturer at JUST. Beyond academia, she has contributed to the JUST-Able Project, funded by the Canadian Embassy, as a technical advisor and workshop facilitator. Her broader interests lie at the intersection of urban design, climate change adaptation, cultural landscapes, traditional city planning, and inclusive public space design.
Departments
Regional Planning