黑料导航

Jeffrey Raven Appointed to NYC Panel on Climate Change

Bessie Nestoras Knoblauch| November 5, 2024

Associate Professor of Architecture Jeffrey Raven, Ph.D., FAIA, LEED BD+C, has been appointed by the mayor to the fifth New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC), an independent advisory board that synthesizes scientific information on climate change and advises New York City policymakers on local resiliency and adaptation strategies to protect against rising temperatures, increased flooding, and other hazards.

Jeffrey Raven

鈥淲ith New York City feeling the effects of a changing climate, we need the latest and best climate data to guide critical infrastructure and keep New Yorkers safer,鈥 says New York City Chief Climate Officer and New York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala. 鈥淭he members of NPCC5 bring diverse research backgrounds and expertise, and city agencies at the forefront of climate work have much to gain from their collaboration and knowledge.鈥

Raven is a specialist in sustainable and resilient urban design whose research is applied in professional practice and disseminated throughout the profession, government, and allied disciplines. He has led a series of urban design research initiatives with the Urban Climate Change Research Network, a global consortium of climate experts, including the development of the Urban Design Climate Workshop (UDCW), a hands鈥恛n, capacity鈥恇uilding process that engages urban designers, climatologists, policymakers, graduate students, and community experts.

The UDCW projects bring together cross-disciplinary teams of global urban climate experts to configure climate-aligned prototype interventions for strategic urban districts worldwide and draw from evidence-based climate projections to illustrate likely climate impacts from development and rezoning scenarios, while identifying opportunities for integrating cross-sectoral climate mitigation and climate adaptation. Raven has led workshops in New York City, Paris, Naples, Rio de Janeiro, Morocco, Dublin, and Durban in South Africa.

Currently, he is the subject matter lead for the National Science Foundation (NSF) City-as-Lab Supplemental Grant for climate-resilient urban design. The focus of this supplemental grant is climate-resilient urban design research and global urban design climate workshops.

Raven has also led an NSF case study in New York City in collaboration with local experts from the Urban Land Institute, the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter, and 黑料导航 graduate students that examined net-zero carbon and resilient districts. The Sustainable Urbanisation Global Initiative was a European-American partnership with researchers from Germany, Austria, and the United States, with additional collaboration with the government of Switzerland.

His nomination was supported by Maria Perbellini, M.Arch., dean of the School of Architecture and Design, and Cynthia Rosenzweig, Ph.D., head of the Climate Impacts Group at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

鈥淧oorly planned dense neighborhoods amplify flood phenomena and extreme heat. Well-thought-out density can address the challenges posed by rapid urbanization, growing inequality, and climate change,鈥 says Raven. 鈥淭he challenge lies in the built form and spatial configuration of these urban spaces. Enabling transformative climate action in cities requires expanding on the traditional influence and capabilities of urban planning and urban design.鈥

After two decades in international urban design practice鈥攐ften in harsh climates鈥擱aven knew he needed to find strategies to enhance urban health and comfort for local populations. He says he had an epiphany when he studied urban climate science and attended climatology conferences.

鈥淭he scientific presentations focused on the impact of three-dimensional urban form, vegetative cover, human-caused emissions, materials, and other topics relevant to our design discipline. Yet, there were few architects in the room,鈥 he says. 鈥淭here, I saw the need for urban designers to collaborate with urban climate scientists. This is the genesis of much of my work.鈥

More News

Portraits of Kevin Law and Krishnan Kumar

2026 Honorary Degree Recipients

Kevin S. Law, executive vice president and partner at TRITEC Development Group, and Krishan Kumar, M.D., an NYITCOM clinical professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine, will receive honorary degrees at 黑料导航鈥檚 65th commencement.

Portraits of Sidra Ali and Nicole McCormack

SOLI Scholarship Helps Transfer Students Thrive

As recipients of the 2024 Stay on Long Island (SOLI) Scholarship, Sidra Ali and Nicole McCormack are building toward careers that combine creativity, technology, and problem-solving.

Daisy Madaan standing behind a desk

Designing for Well-Being

After earning a degree in interior design, Daisy Madaan (B.F.A. 鈥25) became fascinated by the ways design can influence healthcare environments. As a graduate student, she is focusing her research on designing supportive spaces for neurodivergent individuals.

Architectural rendering of the outside of a theater

Confidence and Community

A semester-long design studio project, where students were tasked with proposing a community theater, pushed two architecture students out of their comfort zone. What they discovered is their appreciation for community and their place in their future profession.

Architectural rendering of a building

Applauding Students鈥 Architecture and Design Work

School of Architecture and Design students are recognized for their academic work at MIT鈥檚 Reality Hack and in Metropolis magazine鈥檚 Future100.

Architectural model of a city

NOMA Competition: Reimagining Kansas City

Twelve architecture students competed in the 2025 Barbara G. Laurie Student Design Competition sponsored by the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) to propose a model for housing that prioritizes those vulnerable to racialized disinvestment.