Assistant Professor/Research
Bio
Sarah Hinners is a landscape and urban ecologist. She holds a B.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies from McGill University and a PhD. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. As a scientist in a planning department, she is focused on bridging the gap between science and academic research and real-world applications. Within the Metropolitan Research Center, she currently coordinates the modeling and integration of over 20 research-based modules as part of the development of the scenario-planning software, Envision Tomorrow Plus.
Professor Hinners’ research interests focus on the ecological, economic and social roles and value of green infrastructure in and around cities. Her PhD. research examined the effects of suburban development and suburban green space on the community ecology of wild bees in the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area. She is currently working on mechanisms that facilitate inclusion of ecosystem service values and natural resource data in scenario planning calculations. She is also interested in spatial modeling of urban areas and urban growth.
In Colorado, she was involved in the early growth of a now-established ecological restoration volunteer organization, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, and spent two years of graduate school on an NSF fellowship working on science outreach in local middle school classrooms. While in graduate school, she also co-authored a lab manual of animal behavior and her research has been published in a variety of ecological journals. She is married to a molecular biologist, is the mother of two small boys, and is an avid urban gardener and beekeeper.
