Jennifer Blanks

Jennifer Blanks is a PhD candidate pursuing a doctoral degree in urban and regional science at Texas A&M University. Jennifer is a member of the Texas Freedom Colonies Project under the mentorship of Andrea Roberts. Jennifer's role in the Texas Freedom Colonies Project includes managing The Texas African American Cemetery Registry- a voluntary database of black burial grounds in Texas. The goal is to create a resource for cemetery stewards that guides The Texas Freedom Colonies Project to help stewards determine the best way to preserve their burial grounds. Jennifer also supports the operations of the Atlas, a geospatial database, leading demonstrations for the Atlas, creating new spatial layers to the Atlas, and mentoring junior researchers to help her engage.

Jennifer identifies as an environmental planner; however, her other research interests include hazards and disaster management, preservation planning, and black geographies. Jennifer's dissertation project builds upon existing literature bodies that offer best practices for African American participatory preservation methods, theories, and approaches to provide perpetual care for historic ancestral and burial grounds. As cemeteries, a non-renewable resource, are emerging as points of concern in environmental justice through an advocacy planning lens that centers on the deceased, Jennifer believes preservations and planners benefit from improving hazard management of historic resources. In addition, Jennifer wishes to understand how community members can leverage existing traditional, technical, and innovative preservation tools to enhance overall cemetery maintenance and preserve the cultural landscape found in cemeteries.