Dr. Michael Méndez

open.spotify.com/episode/6WPE...

Michael Méndez, a former member of FEMA's National Advisory Council and professor at University of California, Irvine, says FEMA employees play a particularly crucial role in immigrant communities and with other hard-to-reach populations… www.npr.org/2026/02/17/n...

Another great panel with academic and community leaders experts.

Great time moderating the panel on “AI in Urban Planning for Climate Change”

He’s a great policy advocate and expert. Been collaborators and friends since grad school! 🤓

Great event! Thank you to Justin and Martha for sharing their environmental
wisdom with students and faculty!

Congratulations to @ucirvine.bsky.social urban planning & public policy Associate Professor @mikemendezphd.bsky.social for being honored with the Edward Blakely Award during the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning's 2025 Annual Conference in Minneapolis on Oct. 25.

Amazing work!

What an honor to be part of the Ed Blakely Award legacy. And thank you to POCIG for sponsoring the award reception!

When Helene hit, they lost their homes. Under Trump, they could lose even more. » Yale Climate Connections One year after massive flooding hit western North Carolina, immigrant families are rebuilding with little more than grit, neighbors, and community organizing – under an increasingly hostile government...

“There always has been a lack of care and priority for immigrant communities, particularly those that are undocumented, without legal status” - @ucirvine.bsky.social urban planning & public policy Associate Professor @mikemendezphd.bsky.social.

ow.ly/PwpO50X6rSC

We had a great time presenting at the Urban History Conference on Latino New Urbanism revisted.

The stellar climate scholarship of @mikemendezphd.bsky.social is bicoastal. The @ucirvine.bsky.social Chancellor's Fellow and urban planning & public policy associate professor gave the keynote speech at The State of Nuestro Climate in Brooklyn on Sept. 25 as part of New York City Climate Week.

yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/09/when...

When Helene hit, they lost their homes. Under Trump, they could lose even more. » Yale Climate Connections One year after massive flooding hit western North Carolina, immigrant families are rebuilding with little more than grit, neighbors, and community organizing – under an increasingly hostile government...

"The cruelty and the intentional guiding of policies to hurt [immigrant] communities, even when there is a disaster like a hurricane or some other type of climactic event, is unbearable.”

-Member Scholar @mikemendezphd.bsky.social of UC Irvine.

yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/09/when...

ABC with Dolores Huerta!

Impressed by these civic leaders in public health, housing, and labor!

Member Scholar Michael Méndez @mikemendezphd.bsky.social of UC Irvine was quoted in an Inside Climate News article about LGBTQ+ Americans organizing for climate justice and extreme weather disaster protections.

Excellent piece by climate writer @audreygray.bsky.social !

insideclimatenews.org/news/2007202...

socialecology.uci.edu/news/mendez-...

Member Scholar @mikemendezphd.bsky.social of @ucirvine.bsky.social says another way to prepare for more heat waves is by thinking about shade. He says communities are planting more trees to cool urban areas down. @npr.org @wamu.org

Listen on NPR. 👉 www.npr.org/transcripts/...

Michael Mendez, an environmental policy professor at the University of California, Irvine, says another way to prepare for more heat waves is by thinking about shade. He says communities are planting more trees to cool urban areas down. www.npr.org/2025/06/26/n...

Federal recommendations would also help California enforce its rules for keeping workers safe in smokey conditions, said Michael Méndez, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, who studies how wildfire smoke affects vineyard workers. The state law requires employers to take different steps depending on how bad the air is, based on an official air quality index. That can be “ripe for misinformation, with employers telling workers it is safe to go out without a mask or keeping workers out there,” Méndez said. https://www.eenews.net/articles/when-the-smoke-came-federal-experts-were-gone/

www.eenews.net/articles/whe.... Federal recommendations would also help California enforce its rules, said Mendez.

Delighted to be on a panel and event with PBS Newshour anchors Judy Woodruff, Lisa Desjardins, and Ca Secretary of Natural Resources on “Wildfire Resilience.”

grist.org/equity/natio...

So sad. I was also on NCA 6

Our new research memo on “Improving tribal consultation on land use, environmental projects.” socialecology.uci.edu/news/improvi...

National Weather Service halts automated translation for alerts The pause could affect the millions of Americans who speak a language other than English at home, at a time when climate change is exacerbating extreme weather.

www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025...

“Disasters disproportionately impact vulnerable people — including those who do not speak English as a first language,” said Michael Méndez. Disasters are amplified due to language barriers & not receiving access to vital information, such as weather alerts & evacuation orders.