Jennifer Dean

Degrees

PhD, Geography, McMaster University, 2012

MA, Geography, University of Toronto, 2007

BA (Hons), Geography, History, Women's Studies, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2006

Certifications and Memberships

• Registered Professional Planner (RPP), Ontario Professional Planners Institute(OPPI)
• Member of Canadian Institute of Planners (MCIP), Canadian Institute of Planners(CIP)

• Place effects on health and wellbeing
• Planning for immigrant settlement and integration
• Active, sustainable and equitable transportation for health and well-being
• Planning education, ethics and professional responsibility
• Qualitative, mixed-methods, and community-engaged research

Academic honours

• Plan ON Innovative Research Award, Ontario Professional Planners Institute (with Dr. S. Biglieri, Toronto Metropolitan University) (2023)
• Outstanding Performance Awards, University of Waterloo (2020, 2023) 

Current research opportunities

I am currently recruiting graduate students in the following areas: 

• Planning for immigrant settlement and integration in smaller communities
• Place effects on health and wellbeing
• Planning education, ethics and professional responsibility
• Active transportation and micro-mobility solutions for health and inclusion 

Contact Jennifer Dean for more information on research opportunities for students. 

Research grants/projects

• Immigrant settlement in rural communities: Exploring access to the social determinants of health (Principal Investigator)
  • Funded by: SSHRC Insight Development Grant
• From Classrooms to Boardrooms: Building Student Competence in Professional Responsibility and Ethics through Work-Integrated Learning (Principal Investigator)
  • Funded by: UW LITE Seed Grant
• Mobilizing Justice: Towards evidence-based transportation equity policy (Co-Investigator, PI: S. Farber, University of Toronto)
  • Funded by: SSHRC Partnership Grant
• New Mobility Analysis: Evaluating the impact of e-scooters in Waterloo.
  (Principal Investigator with C. Woudsma)
  • Contract: City of Waterloo and Region of Waterloo
• Implementing Active Transportation Initiatives for a Healthier Region of Waterloo (Nominated Principal Applicant)
  • Funded by: CIHR- Planning Grant: Implementing Healthy Urban Policy

Recent/key publications

Peer Reviewed Articles (selected):

• Dean, J. & S. Edge (2024). Migration, wellbeing in and of place. Well-being, Space & Society, 6, 100199.

• Edge, S., Zhuang, Z. C., & J. Dean. (2024). Reshaping essential public spaces and services: towards socio-spatial justice in a post-pandemic era. Town Planning Review, 95(5), 485-504.

• Biglieri, S., & J.  Dean. (2024). Fostering mobility for people living with dementia in suburban neighborhoods through land use, urban design and wayfinding. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 44(3), 1704-1718.

• Leger, S., Dean, J., Thompson, C. & Collins P. (2023). "Nothing in my years of community organizing has affected me as deeply as this closure did”: A critical exploration of the socio-spatial consequences of public-school closures in Ontario, Canada. Canadian Planning and Policy; 2023, 38-61.

• Vine, M. M., Mulligan, K., Harris, R., & J. Dean. (2023). The Impact of Health Geography on Public Health Research, Policy, and Practice in Canada. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(18), 6735.

• Edge, S., Davis, C., Dean, J., Onilude, Y., Rishworth, A., & Wilson, K. (2023). The role of urban and rural greenspaces in shaping immigrant wellbeing and settlement in place. Wellbeing, Space and Society, 4, 100127.

• Rishworth, A., Niraula, A., Dean, J., Wilson, K., Ghassemi, E., & Baldo, A. (2023). Rural futures? Mapping newcomers' hopes about potential resettlement in Canadian rural areas. The Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien, 67(2), 253-271.

• Rishworth, A., Dean, J., Wilson, K., & Edge, S. (2022). Contested and (un) realized capabilities of wellbeing in rural places in Canada: Contemplating immigrants’ realities. Wellbeing, Space and Society, 100113.

• Edge, S., Goodfield, J. & J. Dean. (2020). Shifting gears on sustainable transport transitions: Stakeholder perspectives on e-bikes in Toronto, Canada. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 36, 197-208.

• Dean, J., Biglieri, S.,Drescher, M., Casello, J., Glover, T. & A. Garnett. (2020). Thinking relationally about built environments and walkability: A study of adult walking behavior in Waterloo, Ontario. Health and Place, 64, 1-17. 

• Dean, J., Wray, AJ., Braun, L., Casello, J., Grower, S. & L. McCallum. (2019). Handing Over the keys: A framework for considering the future health impacts of autonomous vehicles. BMC Public Health. 19(1), 1258. 

• Patel, A., Dean, J., Edge., S., Wilson, K. & E. Ghassemi. (2019). Double Burden of rural migration in Canada? Considering the social determinants of health related to immigrant settlement outside the Cosmopolis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(5); 678-698. 

• Leger, S. Dean, J., Edge., S. &J. Casello. (2019). "If I had a regular bicycle, I wouldn’t be out riding anymore”: Perspectives on the potential of e-bikes to support active living and independent mobility among older adults in Waterloo, Canada. Transportation Research A: Policy and Practice. 123; 240-254. 

• Lee, E., & Dean, J. (2018). Perceptions of walkability and determinants of walking behaviour among urban seniors in Toronto, Canada. Journal of Transport & Health. Online First. 

Book Chapters (selected):

• Dean, J. & E. Donato. (2020). New Mobility and Aging in the Suburbs in S. Biglieri & M. Hartt (Eds). Aging People, Aging Places. Refereed. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. 

• Godfrey, S., Dean, J. & K. Regier. (2019). Sustainable Housing in M.Moos (Ed). Housing: A Research Agenda. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. 

• Dean, J. (2016). Walking in their shoes: Utilizing go-along interviews to explore participant engagement with local space, in Baxter, J. & Fenton (Eds). Practicing Qualitative Research in Health Geography, Routledge. Pg. 131-148. 

Working Papers and Community Reports 

• Linovski, O., Dean, J., Leger, S., McLaren, A., & I. Cascante. How do elected officials think about transportation equity? Policy Brief for Mobilizing Justice.

• Dean, J., Zhuang, Z. & S. Edge. (2022). From classrooms to boardrooms: Applying a multi-scale coordinated approach to an anti-racist future for the Canadian planning system. Plan Canada, 61(4); 21-25.

• Lewis, J., Dean, J., Chen, Y. & T. Debly. (2021). Accessible Housing Standards: Environmental Scan. Report for Canadian Standards Association and Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

• Niraula, A., Dean, J., Edge, S., Wilson, K & Ghassemi, E. (2021). Rural community readiness for immigrant resettlement in Ontario. Working Paper prepared for Newcomer Centre of Peel.

• Nooren, L., Tang, M., Dean, J., Glover, D. (2020). Supporting Community Well-Being: Reconsidering The Role of Public Spaces in Current and Future Pandemics. Report for the Region of Waterloo.

• Dean, J., Donato, E. & J. Casello. (2019). Active Waterloo Biannual Report. Prepared for City of Waterloo.

• Dean, J., Patel, A., Regier, K., Edge, S., Wilson, K & Ghassemi, E. (2018). Rural Immigrant Settlement and Health: Considerations for Peel Region. Working Paper prepared for Newcomer Centre of Peel.

• Braun, L., Wray, AJ., Dean, J. & J. Casello. (2018). Considering the future health impacts of autonomous vehicles: A review of academic and grey literature. Report for Toronto Public Health. 

Courses Taught:

• PLAN 103: Planning Governance & Administration
• PLAN 233: Social Planning & Community Development
• PLAN 300: Planning Theory and Ethics
• PLAN 432: Health and the Built Environment
• PLAN 442: Planning for Ethno-Cultural Diversity and Difference
• PLAN 474/674: Special Topics in Planning
• PLAN 471: Planning and Municipal Law
• PLAN 674: Special Topics – Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Active Transportation 
• PLAN 710: Research Design for Graduate Students