Joanne (Jo) Fitzgibbons

Jo is a M.E.S. student in the School of Planning. Her main research focuses on issues of justice, discourse and participation in planning for urban climate resilience in Canadian and international contexts. More specifically, her thesis deals with the role of collaborative planning as an indicator of justice during Toronto’s participation in the Rockefeller Foundation’s “100 Resilient Cities” program, as well as how power relations shape the construction of the city's associated resilience strategy. She is also collaborating with other U.W. researchers on projects relating to disaster risk reduction amphibious housing, and visualization tools for flood risk communication.

Before coming to Waterloo, Jo completed a double-major in Geography and International Development Studies from Saint Mary’s University in her home city of Halifax, NS. Her past work has focused on community-based research in a range of applications, from environmental monitoring to local economic development.