Kevi Smiley is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Louisiana State University. His research investigates social inequalities and environmental change, especially as it relates to disasters, place making, health, immigration, race, and social capital.
Smiley researches disaster resilience and vulnerability, particularly how environmental changes link to inequalities in flooding. This research is funded by an National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER grant, the Early-Career Innovators Program at the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, and an Early-Career Research Fellowship through the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. He was also a fellow in the NSF's Human, Disasters, and Built Environment Enabling the Next Generation of Hazards and Disasters Researchers program. His newest work on this topic analyzes climate change attribution of flooding using an environmental justice lens.
Smiley also co-authored a book titled Market Cities, People Cities (New York University Press, 2018), which assesses vast variability in urban trajectories in Copenhagen and Houston, and what the implications are for our urban future.
Smiley also researches health risks from industrial air pollution in the United States by examining the extent of disparities across metropolitan areas, and how those disparities have emerged.