Earthea Nance

Earthea A. Nance is an Associate Professor in the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University, and she holds joint faculty appointments in the Department of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy and the Department of Political Science. Prior to arriving at TSU she was assistant professor of environmental planning and hazard mitigation at the University of New Orleans, and a faculty associate in the Center for Hazards Assessment, Response, and Technology. She received her PhD degree from Stanford University. Dr. Nance is a certified floodplain manager and a board-licensed professional civil engineer with over 15 years of practice in the environmental engineering field. During New Orleans’ recovery from Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Nance served as a public official providing expertise in disaster mitigation and environmental management. During a three-year tenure she raised and managed over $59 million in recovery-related grants, created new municipal divisions in hazard mitigation and alternative energy, and spearheaded the development of citywide plans for sustainability and hazard mitigation. As a researcher, Dr. Nance is interested in the intersection of environmental hazards, community participation, and urban infrastructure in complex settings such as vulnerable communities, developing countries, and high-hazard areas. She has contextual expertise in Brazil’s Northeast Region (including Portuguese language) and in the US Gulf Coast (Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav, Ike, and Isaac); as well as research experience in Mozambique and Pakistan. Her recent publications include Engineers and Communities: Transforming Sanitation in Contemporary Brazil (sole author, Lexington 2012) and Levees and the National Flood Insurance Program: Improving Policies and Practices (co-author, National Academies Press 2013); as well as articles in Public Administration Review, Journal of Planning Education and Research, Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education, Duke Forum for Law and Social Change, and the American Journal of Evaluation.