Danielle Spurlock

Danielle Spurlock is an assistant professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC‑CH). Her research investigates how public policy integrates technical expertise and local knowledge within three broad areas: neighborhood change, environmental justice, and public health. Within these areas, she examines: (1) the type, breadth, and depth of community engagement activities associated with policy decisions; (2) the quality of policy documents; and (3) the impact of plans and policies on the built, social, and natural environments. Her most recent published research focuses on riparian buffer implementation at the parcel level and the use of urban tree canopy as an environmental-justice metric.