Daniella Hirschfeld

Landscape & Environmental Plan

Associate Professor | Climate Adaptation Planning, Urban Ecology, Environmental Justice


Daniella Hirschfeld

Contact Information

Office Location: FAV 244
Phone: (435) 797-5725
Email: daniella.hirschfeld@usu.edu

Educational Background

PhD, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, University of California, Berkeley, 2019
Transformation in the face of rising sea levels: Approaches to measuring progress and evaluating strategies
MS, Global Environmental Change, Duke University, 2008
Planning to Avert a Crisis: Analysis of Jordan’s Groundwater, Understanding its Characteristics and Providing Solutions
BA, Psychology and Philosophy, Dartmouth College, 2003

Teaching Interests

Environmental Planning; Climate Adaptation; Urban Ecology; Hazard Mitigation; Spatial Analysis

Research Interests

I weave together the fields of urban ecology and environmental planning to investigate resilient systems. I approach this investigation through three interwoven tracks. First, I look at the adaptive capacity of systems to understand their ability to change to meet future conditions. Second, I focus on the decision-making environment, unpacking the use of science and the connections to the cost of proactive adaptation actions. My third area of research is spatial analysis, which is primarily a tool I use to support the other two areas of work.

Awards

Early Career Faculty Researcher of the Year Award,, 2024

College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences


Publications | Abstracts

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

    Publications | Book Chapters

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

Publications | Journal Articles

Academic Journal

  • Archie, K., Hirschfeld, D., Meerow, S., Arnott, J., Keith, L., Vano, J., Mateo, E., (2025). Too hot to handle: Assessing practitioner climate service needs to advance heat resilience. Climate Services, 40:100606, doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2025.100606
  • Archie, K., Arnott, J.C, Vano, J.A, Hirschfeld, D., Rasch, R., Mateo, E., (2025). Climate information use in transportation planning: A survey of Metropolitan Planning Organizations. Climate Risk Management, 50:100742, doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2025.100742
  • Hirschfeld, D., (2025). Just Distribution of Tree Canopy? A Digital Approach to Tree Equity. Journal of the American Planning Association, doi: DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2025.2501610
  • Hirschfeld, D., Archie, K.M, Mateo, E., Arnott, J.C, Vano, J.A, (2024). Practitioners’ Needs for Addressing the Challenges of Sea-Level Rise – A Qualitative Assessment. Earth's Future, doi: doi.org/10.1029/ 2024EF004717
  • McInnes, K.L, Nicholls, R.J, van de Wal, R., Behar, D., Haigh, I.D, Hamlington, B.D, Hinkel, J., Hirschfeld, D., Horton, B.P, Melet, A., Palmer, M.D, Robel, A.A, Stammer, D., Sullivan, A., (2024). Perspective on Regional Sea-level Change and Coastal Impacts. Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures, 2, doi: 10.1017/cft.2024.15
  • Hirschfeld, D., Boyle, R., Nicholls, R.J, Behar, D., Esteban, M., Hinkel, J., Smith, G., Hanslow, D., (2024). Practitioner Needs to Adapt to Sea-Level Rise: Distilling Information from Global Workshops. Climate Services, 34, 100452. doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2024.100452
  • Blankespoor, B., Dasgupta, S., Wheeler, D., Jeuken, A., Ginkel, K., Hill, K., Hirschfeld, D., (2023). Linking Sea-Level Research with Local Planning and Adaptation Needs. Nature Climate Change13(8), 760–763. . doi: doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01749-7 IF: 29.6 *
  • Hirschfeld, D., Behar, D., Nicholls, R.J, Cahill, N., James, T., Horton, B.P, Portman, M.E, Bell, R., Campo, M., Esteban, M., Goble, B., Rahman, M., Addo, K.A, Chundeli, F.A, Aunger, M., Babitsky, O., Beal, A., Boyle, R., Fang, J., Gohar, A., Hanson, S., Karamesines, S., Kim, M.J, Lohmann, H., McInnes, K., Mimura, N., Ramsay, D., Wenger, L., Yokoki, H., (2023). Global survey shows planners use widely varying sea-level rise projections for coastal adaptation. Communications Earth & Environment, 4:1, 1--9. doi: 10.1038/s43247-023-01145-1
  • Hirschfeld, D., Hill, K., (2022). The Landscape of Sea Level Rise Adaptation Resources: Applying Grounded Theory in California. Climate Services, 28, 100332. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2022.100332
  • Wang, S., Hirschfeld, D., Lisonbee, J., Gillies, R.R, (2022). Feasibility of Adding Twitter Data to Aid Drought Depiction: Case Study in Colorado. Water, 14:2773, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/w14182773
  • Hirschfeld, D., Hill, K., Riordan, B., (2020). The Regional Fingerprint: A New Tool to Evaluate Adaptive Capacity. Environmental Science & Policy, 112, 36-46.
  • Hirschfeld, D., Hill, K., (2017). Choosing a future shoreline for the San Francisco Bay: strategic coastal adaptation insights from cost estimation. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 5:3, 42.
  • Vengosh, A., Hirschfeld, D., Vinson, D., Dwyer, G., Raanan, H., Marie, A., Zaarur, S., Ganor, J., (2014). Response to Comment on "High Naturally Occurring Radioactivity in Fossil Groundwater from the Middle East". Environmental science \& technology, 48:16, 9946--9947.
  • Vengosh, A., Hirschfeld, D., Vinson, D., Dwyer, G., Raanan, H., Rimawi, O., Al-Zoubi, A., Akkawi, E., Marie, A., Haquin, G., others, , (2009). High naturally occurring radioactivity in fossil groundwater from the Middle East. Environmental science \& technology, 43:6, 1769--1775.

Professional Journal

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

Publications | Technical Reports

Research Reports

  • Hirschfeld, D., (2022). Sea-Level Rise Practitioner Workshop Report: Leading Practices and Current Challenges. *

Other Reports

  • Hirschfeld, D., (2025). Understanding decision support for a changing climate. *

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

Publications | Other

Other

    An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

    Teaching

    LAEP 6960 - Master's Project, Summer 2025
    LAEP, LAEP 4210, 6210 - Bioregional Management and Policy, Spring 2025
    CAS 6003 - Climate Adaptation Science Studio II, Spring 2025
    CAS 6002 - Climate Adaptation Science Studio I, Fall 2024
    LAEP 1040 - Introduction to Environmental Planning and Sustainable Development (BLS), Fall 2024
    LAEP 6210 - Bioregional Management and Policy, Spring 2024
    LAEP, LAEP 4210, 6210 - Bioregional Management and Policy, Spring 2024
    LAEP 1040 - Introduction to Environmental Planning and Sustainable Development, Fall 2023
    LAEP 6110 - Landscape Ecology for Planning, Fall 2023
    LAEP 1040 - Introduction to Environmental Planning and Sustainable Development, Fall 2022
    LAEP 6110 - Landscape Ecology for Planning, Fall 2022
    LAEP 6100 - Regional Landscape Analysis and Planning, Spring 2022
    LAEP 1030 - Introduction to Landscape Architecture, Fall 2021
    LAEP 6110 - Landscape Ecology for Planning, Fall 2021
    LAEP 6100 - Regional Landscape Analysis and Planning, Spring 2021
    LAEP 6110 - Landscape Ecology for Planning, Fall 2020
    LAEP 6210 - Bioregional Management and Policy, Spring 2020
    LAEP 6110 - Landscape Ecology for Planning, Fall 2019

    Graduate Students Mentored

    Vann Clark, Landscape & Environmental Plan, September 2025
    Hadley Ocheltree, Landscape & Environmental Plan, December 2024
    Garland Ledbetter, Landscape & Environmental Plan, August 2023
    Amy Guenther, Landscape & Environmental Plan, August 2022
    Julie Coleman, Landscape & Environmental Plan, November 2019
    Jessica Zubin, Landscape & Environmental Plan, January 2025 - December 2025
    Tayli Hillyard, Landscape & Environmental Plan, August 2021 - December 2025
    Conner Smith, Landscape & Environmental Plan, September 2021 - December 2023
    Saul Karamesines, Landscape & Environmental Plan, November 2019 2021
    Landis Wenger, Landscape & Environmental Plan, November 2019 - December 2021