The overarching goal of my research is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the planning of communities vulnerable to environmental hazards and broader development concerns in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Specifically, I take an interdisciplinary approach towards understanding three areas of academic inquiry:
(1) exploring equity and engagement dynamics between local communities and external stakeholders in environmental, hazards, and resilience planning (assessments, impacts, theoretical perspectives)
(2) understanding the roles specific actors play in implementing equity and engagement activities in environmental, hazards, and resilience planning
(3) addressing the impacts of equity and engagement activities on vulnerable and marginalized groups in environmental, hazards, and resilience planning.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Niles, S.,* Roudbari, S., Contreras, S. (2020). Integrating Social Justice and Political Engagement into Engineering. International Journal of Engineering, Social Justice, and Peace, 7(1), 57-69. https://doi.org/10.24908/ijesjp.v7i1.13568
Niles, S.,* Contreras, S., Roudbari, S., Kaminsky, J., & Harrison, J. (2020). Resisting and assisting engagement with public welfare in engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 109: 491– 507. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20323
Goodrich, K., Sanders, B., Basolo, V., Feldman, D., Matthew, R., Schubert, J., Luke, A., Eguiarte, A., Boudreau, D., Serrano, K., Reyes, A., Contreras, S., Houston, D., & Cheung, W., AghaKouchak, A., Sanders, B. (2020). Addressing Pluvial Flash Flooding through Community-Based Collaborative Research in Tijuana, Mexico. Water, 12, 1257. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12051257
Sanders, B., Schubert, J., Goodrich, K., Houston, D., Feldman, D., Basolo, V., Luke, A. Boudreau, D., Karlin, B., Cheung, W., Contreras, S., Reyes, A., Eguiarte, A., Serrano, K., Allaire, M., Moftakhari, H., AghaKouchak, A., & Matthew, R. (2020). Collaborative Modeling with Fine Resolution Data Enhances Flood Awareness, Minimizes Differences in Flood Perception, and Produces Actionable Flood Maps. Earth’s Future, 7, e2019EF001391. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EF001391
Contreras, S. (2019). Using Arnstein’s Ladder as an Evaluative Framework for the Assessment of Participatory Work in Post-disaster Haiti. Journal of the American Planning Association, 85:3, 219-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2019.1618728
Contreras, S., Niles, S.,* Roudbari, S., Harrison, J., & Kaminsky, J. (2019). Bridging the Praxis of Hazards and Development with Resilience: A Case Study of an Engineering Education Program. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 42, 101347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101347
Houston, D., Cheung, W., Basolo, V., Feldman, D., Matthew, R., Sanders, B., Karlin, B., Schubert, J., Goodrich, K., Contreras, S., & Luke, A. (2017). The Influence of Hazard Maps and Trust of Flood Controls on the Perception of Coastal Flood Risk in Newport Beach, California. Environment and Behavior, 51(4), 347–375. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916517748711
Feldman, D., Contreras, S., Karlin, B., Basolo, V., Matthew, R., Sanders, B., Houston, D., Cheung, W., Goodrich, K., Reyes, A., Serrano, K., Schubert, J., & Luke, A. (2016). Communicating Flood Risk: Looking Back and Forward at Traditional and Social Media Outlets. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 15, 43-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.12.004
Cheung, W., Houston, D., Schubert, J., Basolo, V., Feldman, D., Matthew, R., Sanders, B., Karlin, B., Goodrich, K., Contreras, S., & Luke, A. (2016). Integrating resident digital sketch maps with expert knowledge to assess spatial knowledge of flood risk: A case study of participatory mapping in Newport Beach, California. Applied Geography 74, 56-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2016.07.006
Technical Reports
Lorenzo-Pérez, M.* & Contreras, S. (2021). Understanding the Impacts of Managed Retreat and Resettlement on Informal Communities. Natural Hazards Center Mitigation Matters Research Report.
Headley, A., Remington, C., Witkowski, K.,* Contreras, S., & Ganapati, E. (2021). Reprioritizing Responsibilities: Examining How Colliding Epidemics Impact First Responders. Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University.
Peer-Reviewed Articles (Under Review)
Contreras, S. & Niles, S.* Building Resilience through Informal Networks and Community Knowledge Sharing: Post-disaster Health Service Delivery after Hurricane Maria.
* Indicates co-author is a graduate student.