Jason Corburn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and a member of the Global Metropolitan Studies initiative at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on the links between environmental health and social justice in cities, notions of expertise in science-based policy making, and the role of local knowledge in addressing environmental and public health problems. Jason is also a mediator of environmental disputes and advises cities, states and national governments on the linkages between environmental planning and human health.

Professor Corburn current research includes: a partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health exploring how Health Impact Assessment might be used in the US to promote healthier cities; collaborations with community-based organizations in New York City and San Francisco that are engaging in scientific research to achieve environmental justice; and spatial and comparative analyses of how different social and physical characteristics of cities influence the well-being of residents, focusing on urban slums in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

Jason is the author of Street Science: Community Knowledge and Environmental Health Justice and has received major support for his work from the National Institutes of Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholars program, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Workgroup on Citizen Engagement in Health Emergency Planning and a recipient of the National Environmental Leadership Program Award. Jason was formerly a senior planner with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.