About

Jennifer R Wolch

Professor (research) of Geography

Contact Information
E-mail: wolch@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-0050
Office: KAP 462

LINKS
Faculty Profile on Departmental Website
Center for Sustainable Cities
 

Biographical Sketch
Jennifer Wolch is Professor of Geography and Urban Planning, and Director of the Center for Sustainable Cities at the University of Southern California, where she teaches courses on Los Angeles, urban social problems, and sustainable cities. Wolch leads the Green Vision Plan for 21st Century Southern California project, a planning guide and decision support toolkit for habitat conservation, watershed health and recreational open space in the region. She has investigated problems of urban poverty, homelessness, and human service delivery. Her research also focuses on metropolitan sprawl, physical activity and urban planning and design, urban open space and environmental justice, and human-animal relations. She is author of Landscapes of Despair: From Deinstitutionalization to Homelessness (with M. Dear, Princeton, 1987), The Shadow State: Government and Voluntary Sector in Transition (Foundation Center, 1990), and Malign Neglect: Homelessness in an American City (with M. Dear, Jossey-Bass, 1993), and co-editor of The Power of Geography: How Territory Shapes Social Life (with M. Dear, Unwin Hyman, 1989), Animal Geographies: Place, Politics and Identity in the Nature/Culture Borderlands (with J. Emel, Verso, 1998), and Up Against the Sprawl: Public Policy and the Making of Southern California (with M. Pastor Jr., and P. Dreier, Minnesota, 2004). Wolch is a past recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, Center for Advanced Study in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, and the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Study Center. She was awarded the Association of American Geographers’ award for research achievement in 2005.
 

Education
B.A. Anthropology, California State University, Hayward, 1/1975
M.A. Geography, California State University, Hayward, 1/1976
Ph.D. Urban Planning, Princeton University, 1/1978
 

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History
Professor of Geography, University of Southern California, 01/01/1992-  
Associate Professor of Urban & Regional Planning, University of Southern California, 01/01/1985-01/01/1992  
Assistant Professor of Urban & Regional Planning, University of Southern California, 01/01/1979-01/01/1985  
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
Professor Wolch researches problems of service-dependent and homeless people in American cities, social policy and human service delivery, and the role of the voluntary nonprofit sector in the American welfare state. She conducts research on welfare reform, and its implications for American cities. Always intrigued by animals and their relationships with people, Wolch has reinvigorated the field of animal geography, conducting research on cultural diversity and attitudes toward animals, animal practices and racialization of immigrant groups, and the impacts of urbanization and urban design on animal life. Her work in these areas has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Sea Grant Program.
 

Research Specialties
(Ph.D., Princeton University, 1978) Professor of Geography: Urban Social Policy and Planning; Human-Animal Relations; Cultural Diversity and Attitudes Toward Animals; Urban Sustainability
 

Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions
Center for Sustainable Cities, Director,http://www.usc.edu/dept/geography/ESPE/
Lusk Center for Real Estate,http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/lusk/index.php
USC GIS Research Laboratory,http://www.uscgislab.net/incEngine/
USC Energy Institute, Faculty Affiliate
Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies,http://wrigley.usc.edu/
 

Publications

Book
Wolch, J. R. (2005). Spatial Segragation of the Poor in Southern California: A Multidimensional Analysis. Spatial Segragation of the Poor in Southern California: A Multidimensional Analysis.
Wolch, J. R., Emel, J. (1998). Animal Geographies: Place, Politics and Identity in the Nature-Culture Borderlands. Animal Geographies: Place, Politics and Identity in the Nature-Culture Borderlands/Verso.
Wolch, J. R., Dear, M. J. (1993). Malign Neglect: Homelessness in an American City. Malign Neglect: Homelessness in an American City/Jossey Bass Wiley.
Wolch, J. R. (1990). The Shadow State: Government and Voluntary Sector in Transition. The Shadow State: Government and Voluntary Sector in Transition/Foundation Center.
Wolch, J. R., Dear, M. J. (1989). The Power of Geography: How Territory Shapes Social Life. The Power of Geography: How Territory Shapes Social Life/Unwin Hyman.
Wolch, J. R., Dear, M. J. (1987). Landscapes of Despair: From Deinstitutionalization to Homelessness. Princeton, New Jersey: Landscapes of Despair: From Deinstitutionalization to Homelessness/Princeton University Press.
 

Journal Article
Wolch, J. R. (2005). Fical Consequences of Concentrated Poverty in a Metropolitan Region. No Journal Defined. pp. p.587-609.
 

Other
Wolch, J. R. Los Angeles in an Era of Welfare Reform: Implications for Poor People and Community Well-being (1997, with H. Sommer, assisted by J. Handler and M. Stoner).
 

Honors and Awards
Distinguished Scholarship Honors by the Association of American Geographers, 2005  
Rockefeller Fellowship Recipient, Residential Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in Italy, 2003  
Guggenheim Fellowship Recipient, 1997  
USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, 1997  
Residency at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, 1995-1996  
 

Service to the University

Administrative Appointments
Director, Center for Sustainable Cities, 09/01/2003-  
Dean of Graduate Programs, USC College, 01/01/2005-06/30/2007  
 

Service to the Profession

Editorships and Editorial Boards
Editorial Board, Social and Cultural Geography, 1998-2005  
Editorial Board, Geoforum, 2000  
Editorial Board, Society and Animals, 1998  
Editorial Board, Voluntas, 1995  
Editorial Board, Journal of Planning Education and Research, 1988-1991  
Editorial Board, Urban Geography, 1989  
Editorial Board, Professional Geographer, 1983-1986  
 
 
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