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Melissa R. Gilbert

Melissa R. Gilbert with a white shirt and brown sweater smiling and staring into the camera

Melissa R. Gilbert

  • College of Liberal Arts

    • Geography, Environment and Urban Studies

      • Professor

      • Director

        Programs

        • Center for Sustainable Communities

      • Affiliated Faculty

        Programs

        • Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies

Expertise

Urban Geography; Feminist Geography; Anti-Racist Geography; Urban Social Theory; Sustainable Infrastructure; Just Transitions, Environment and Health; Urban Inequities; Social Movements; Societal Dimensions of Information and Communication Technologies; Public Schools as Critical Infrastructure; Social Action Research

Biography

I am an urban geographer with research and teaching interests in feminist and anti-racist studies and community-engaged scholarship. My work explores how urban, environmental, and economic processes are shaped by—and help shape—systems of power and inequality. I’m committed to co-producing transdisciplinary knowledge that contributes to more just and sustainable futures.

My current research examines how infrastructure impacts health and well-being across urban-rural systems. I collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to address complex socio-ecological issues, including:

  • The effects of air pollution on public health in a telecoupled system in Colombia
  • The creation of an Agriculture Futures Archive documenting how diverse growers across Philadelphia, Lancaster County, and Maryland’s Eastern Shore experience and envision agricultural futures
  • The role of public-school districts in Pennsylvania as essential social infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic—and their potential as first responders in future crises

This work builds on prior research into access to digital technologies, economic and health disparities, and grassroots organizing in low-income communities across the United States.

I hold a PhD and MA in Geography from Clark University and an MA in Urban and Regional Studies from the University of Sussex. Before joining Temple University in 1996, I taught at Georgia State University and the University of Southern California.

At Temple, I serve as Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities, which fosters interdisciplinary research, education, and community engagement. I also serve on the editorial board of Geographical Review and previously chaired the Department of Geography, Environment, and Urban Studies for a decade.

Nationally, I’ve served as Treasurer and National Councillor of the Association of American Geographers and as Director of the Greater Philadelphia Women’s Studies Consortium. I was honored with the 2011 Jan Monk Service Award for my contributions to feminist geography and public scholarship.

I’ve partnered with numerous community organizations focused on economic empowerment and digital equity. I currently serve on the Board of Directors for the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia, and previously served 12 years on the Lower Merion School Board and as a member of the Montgomery County Planning Commission.

Curriculum Vitae

Selected Publications

  • Heck, S., Gilbert, M. R., Pearsall, H., & Hoque, S. (forthcoming). Envisioning schools as critical social infrastructure: Advancing a convergence research agenda for sustaining community wellbeing. The Professional Geographer.
  • Muñoz Duque, L. A., Estrada Acuña, R. A., Munn, T., Bañol Muñoz, L. C., Johnson, S., Gilbert, M. R., & Hayes-Conroy, A. (2024). What matters beyond particle matter? Examining air pollution's synergistic effects on bodies and health through Bio3Science in Medellin. Social Science & Medicine, 361, 117331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117331
  • Gilbert, M. R., Eakin, H., & McPhearson, T. (2022). The role of infrastructure in societal transformations. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 57, 101207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101207
  • Gutierrez-Velez, V., Gilbert, M. R., Kinsey, D., & Behm, J. E. (2022). Beyond the urban and the rural: Conceptualizing a new generation of infrastructure systems to enable rural-urban sustainability. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 56, 101177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101177
  • Karkun Sen, S., Pearsall, H., Gutierrez-Velez, V. H., & Gilbert, M. R. (2021). Measuring equity through spatial variability of infrastructure systems across the urban-rural gradient. Land, 10(11), 1202. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111202

Courses Taught

  • Gender, Race, Class, and the City
  • Urban History and Theory
  • Research Design