SARAH JACK HINNERS portrait
  • Director, Center for Ecological Planning and Design, College of Architecture + Planning
  • Associate Director, Global Change and Sustainability Center
  • Associate Professor (Clinical), City & Metropolitan Planning
801-585-5289

Research Keywords

  • urban ecology
  • green infrastructure
  • Water Resources, Management or Planning
  • Resilience and resiliency
  • Regional or Urban Design
  • Landscape Ecology
  • Environmental sustainability

Research/Scholarship Projects

  • GIRF: the Green Infrastructure Research Facility. PI: Sarah J. Hinners. Co-PI(s): Rose Smith, Jennifer Follstad Shah. 03/01/2018 - present.
  • The Landscape Lab at the Williams Building. PI: Sarah J. Hinners. 03/01/2015 - present.

Presentations

  • The Landscape Lab: Exploring social, ecological, and technological adaptation to water scarcity and climate change through stormwater management at the University of Utah. American Association of Geographers Annual Conference. Conference Paper, Presented, 02/28/2022.
  • Flattening the Curve: Landscape Lab impacts on Red Butte Creek” with L. Jamison and I. Fuller, Salt Lake County Watershed Symposium. Conference Paper, Presented, 11/17/2021.
  • “Resilience in the Face of Change” Keynote, Salt Lake County Watershed Symposium. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/17/2021.
  • Carbon and the built environment: becoming net negative? AIA Utah webinar. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 12/30/2020.
  • Campus as a Living Lab: embedded research for sustainability innovation in the built environment. Global Change and Sustainability Center seminar series, University of Utah. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/03/2020.
  • People, Place, Design: Social and ecological perspectives on stormwater green infrastructure for urban landscapes in the semi-arid west. Environmental Engineering seminar series, U. of Nevada Reno. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 02/07/2020.
  • People, Place, Design: Can we achieve thriving, life-sustaining urban landscapes in the hot, dry west? Natural History Museum of Utah Science Salon. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 01/12/2020.
  • Ecology and Buildings” ASHRAE Student Chapter presentation, U. of Utah . Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/2019.
  • Foundations of a Green Infrastructure Research Network Along Red Butte Creek and Beyond (poster) with Diane Pataki and Rose Smith, at the Red Butte Creek Symposium, Salt Lake City, December 2018. Presentation, Presented, 12/05/2018.
  • “Portals: Investigations in Pollinators, Process, Planning, People & Place” in the Investigating Careers in the Environment seminar series, University of Colorado Boulder, October 2018. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/16/2018.
  • “Rediscovery and Revitalization of Red Butte Creek Through Integrated Processes of Science, Planning, and Design” at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Snowbird, Utah, June 2018. Conference Paper, Presented, 06/04/2018.
  • “Streetcars and Economic Development: Do Streetcars Stimulate Economic Growth?” with Arthur C. Nelson at Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, January 2018. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 01/10/2018.
  • “Streetcars and Economic Development: Do Streetcars Stimulate Economic Growth?” with Arthur C. Nelson at Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, January 2018. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 01/09/2018.
  • “A Process Model for Ecological Planning and Design” at the College of Architecture + Planning Research Symposium, University of Utah, October 2017. Presentation, Presented, 10/27/2017.
  • “Pollinators as a Portal to Ecological Planning” at SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science) annual conference, Salt Lake City, Sept. 2017. Presentation, Presented, 10/19/2017.
  • “Integrating ‘Ways of Knowing’ and ‘Ways of Doing’ to Develop an Ecological Planning Approach to Urban Wildlife” at The International Urban Wildlife Conference, San Diego, June 4-7 2017. Presentation, Presented, 06/06/2017.
  • “Landscape Lab: Merging Science and Design for a Landscape of Learning”, with Laura Bandara and Brenda Bowen, at the Salt Lake County Watershed Symposium, November 2016. Presentation, Presented, 11/09/2016.
  • “Public Support for Open Space Planning in the US” at Associated Collegiate Schools of Planning annual conference, Portland, OR. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 11/04/2016.
  • “City Comforts: the Livable Urban Village and the Salt Lake Valley” Panel Presentation, USGBC Utah Sustainability Summit. Presentation, Presented, 10/21/2016.
  • “Bioretention in Arid Climates”, with Christine Pomeroy, at American Public Works Association, Utah chapter symposium. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/12/2016.
  • “Models in Scenario Planning” at the Dialogue on Collaboration forum, UofU Environmental Dispute Resolution Program. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 06/15/2016.
  • “Landscape Lab: Merging Science and Design for a Landscape of Learning” at the Spring Runoff Conference, Utah State University. Conference Paper, Presented, 04/06/2016.
  • “Creating Faculty-Driven Catalysts for Sustainable Collaborations”, a2RU webinar. Other, Presented, 02/26/2016.
  • Uncertainty in Water Quality and Quantity in the Jordan River. Presentation, Presented, 11/19/2015.
  • UU Senate/Hinckley Panel on Investing/Divesting for a Sustainable Future. Other, Presented, 04/13/2015.
  • “Weaving the Green and Blue” Mayor’s Symposium: The Green-Blue City. Presentation, Presented, 04/01/2015.
  • Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute Annual Symposium. Conference Paper, Presented, 03/12/2015.
  • “Water Flows Through the City” Salt Lake County Watershed Symposium. Presentation, Presented, 11/20/2014.
  • “Ecological Planning for Human Habitat on a Crowded Planet” at the Research Administration NAKAMA series (invited), University of Utah, July 2014. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 07/2014.
  • “Science and Place: Finding oneself in an interdisciplinary landscape” at Graduate and Advanced Ladies in Science (GALS) seminar (invited), University of Utah, March 2014. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 03/2014.
  • “Bringing the Mountains to the Valley: the role of nature in our city” with Diane Pataki, at the Mayor’s Symposium (invited), Salt Lake City, February 2014. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 02/2014.
  • “Ecological Planning for Human Habitat on a Crowded Planet” in the Global Change and Sustainability Center seminar series (invited), University of Utah, January 2014. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 01/2014.
  • “Envision Tomorrow Plus” at Wasatch Choice for 2040 trainings in Provo, Ogden, Farmington and Salt Lake City, Utah, November and December 2013. Presentation, Presented, 12/2013.
  • "Envision Tomorrow Plus" at Wasatch Choice for 2040 regional consortium meeting. Presentation, Presented, 05/2013.
  • "Envision Tomorrow Plus: Scenario Planning for the 21st Century" at the American Society of Public Administrators. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 12/2012.
  • "Envision Tomorrow Plus" at Utah League of Cities and Towns annual conference. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 09/2012.
  • Incorporating Ecosystem Services into an Urban Scenario Planning Package. Ecological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting, Portland, OR. Presentation, Presented, 08/2012.

Software Titles

  • Envision Tomorrow Plus (ET+). urban scenario planning. Release Date: 06/2013. Inventors: Fregonese Associates, Metropolitan Research Center.

Publications

  • Follstad Shah, J.J., Bares, R., Bowen, B.B., Bowen, G.J., Bowling, D.R., Eiriksson, D.P., Fasoli, B., Fiorella, R.P., Hallar, A.G., Hinners, S.J., Horel, J.D., Jacques, A.A., Jamison. L.R., Lin, J.C., Mendoza, D.L., Mitchell, L.E., Pataki, D.E., Skiles, S.M., Smith, R.M., Wolf, M.A. & Brooks, P.D. (2022). The Wasatch Environmental Observatory: a mountain to urban research network in the semi-arid Western US. Hydrological Processes. Published, 10/2022.
  • Hinners, S.J., Rose, J., Choi, D. & Park, K. (2022). Geographically evaluating urban-wildland juxtapositions across 36 United States urban areas. Geography and Sustainability. Vol. 3, 139-151. Published, 05/04/2022.
  • Cobley, L.A.E., Pataki, D.E., Adler, F.R. & Hinners, S.J. (2021). Understanding the link between atmospheric pollutant concentrations and median household income using traffic density and Convolvulus arvensis chemistry in Salt Lake Valley, UT. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres. Published, 10/29/2021.
  • Su, Jun-Yuan, Goel, R., Burian, S., Hinners, S.J. , Kochanski, A., Strong, C. & Barber, M (2021). Water quality trading framework with uncertainty for river systems due to climate and population characteristics. Water. Vol. 13, 1738. Published, 06/2021.
  • Stoker, Philip & Hinners, Sarah Jack; Jackson-Smith, Douglas; Buchert, Martin P. (2019). Neighborhood effects on parcel level water use. Sustainable Water Resources Management. Vol. 5(3), 1303-1313. Published, 03/2019.
  • Hinners, Sarah Jack & Nelson, Arthur C., Buchert, Martin P. (2018). Streetcars and economic development: do streetcars stimulate economic growth. Transportation Research Record. Vol. Vol. 2672,, 339-350. Published, 02/06/2018.
  • Hale, R.L., A. Armstrong, M.A. Baker, S. Bedingfield, D. Betts, C. Buahin, M. Buchert, T.Crowl, R.R. Dupont, J. Ehleringer, J. Endter-Wada, C. Flint, J. Grant, S.J. Hinners, J.S.Horsburgh, D. Jackson-Smith, A.S. Jones, C. Licon, S.E. Null, A. Odame, D.E. Pataki, D. Rosenberg, M. Runburg, P. Stoker, C. Strong. iSAW: Integrating Structure, Actors, and Water to study socio-hydro-ecological systems. Earth's Future 3(3):110-132. Published, 03/26/2015.
  • Hinners, S.J., C.A. Kearns and C.A. Wessman. 2012. Roles of scale, matrix and native habitat in supporting a diverse suburban pollinator assemblage. Ecological Applications 22(7): 1923-1935. Published, 10/2012.