Stephanie Pincetl

Stephanie Pincetl, PhD

Founding Director and Professor

California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA; Chair, PhD in Environment and Sustainability;

UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, 619 Charles E. Young Drive East, LaKretz Hall – Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

Campus Mailcode: 149606

310-825-2434

Pronouns: she/her

Visit the California Center for Sustainable Communities

See Dr. Pincetl's personal website

Stephanie Pincetl is a Professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and Founding Director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA. Dr. Pincetl conducts research on environmental policies and governance and analyzes how institutional rules construct how natural resources and energy are used to support human activities and create Earth Systems impacts.  Her focus is on social and environmental justice and the need to develop equitable strategies to reduce human impacts on the planet.  She is expert in bringing together interdisciplinary teams of researchers across the biophysical and engineering sciences with the social sciences to address problems of complex urban systems and environmental management.

Dr. Pincetl has written extensively about land use in California, environmental justice, habitat conservation efforts, urban metabolism water and energy policy. She has received funding from the National Science Foundation to conduct collaborative research with biophysical scientists on urban ecology and water management in Los Angeles, as well as from the California Energy Commission to develop a methodology to understand energy use in communities in California coupled with social policy considerations (see www.energyatlas.ucla.edu). Her book, Transforming California, the Political History of Land Use in the State, is the definitive work on land use politics and policies of California. She was a co-lead on the urban chapter of the National 2nd State of the North American Carbon Cycle Report, improving the understanding of how complex urban systems are dependent on carbon based fuels and their contribution to climate change.

Dr. Pincetl has a PhD in Urban Planning from UCLA. She spent 10 years working in the nonprofit environmental justice sector and has taught in the Masters of Public Affairs at the Institut de Sciences Politiques in Paris. Pincetl is the Faculty Director of the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability (LARC), a Los Angeles regional organization dedicated to working across jurisdictions to achieve a better future. She was instrumental in making the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA its institutional home.

In recognition of her intellectual leadership in the field of urban sustainability, coupled with real-world problem solving as exemplified by the Energy Atlas, Pincetl received the prestigious Burrill Award from the American Association of Geographers at the annual 2019 meeting in Washington DC.

Pincetl has been awarded the 2020 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Geography Department at the University of Manchester. She has also been asked to join the Editorial Board of the journal Applied Energy, one of the most highly cited energy journals in the world.

Dr. Stephanie Pincetl CV-2020 

Visit Dr. Pincetl’s personal website.

stephanie pincetl, phd
Dr. Stephanie Pincetl speaks on “The Future of Cities in a Post Carbon Age” to the UCLA Geography Department on November 26, 2019, as part of the Tod Spieker Colloquium Series.

The Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2) was released by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) on Friday, November 23, 2018. Dr. Stephanie Pincetl was one of 200 contributing experts to this interagency Highly Influential Scientific Assessment led by the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG) and U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program under USGCRP auspices. See her work in Chapter 4, “Understanding Urban Carbon Fluxes,” here.

UCLA launched a new research initiative, Grand Challenges, with professors, scientists, environmentalists, lawmakers and public policy officials working together toward a common goal. In the video above, Dr. Pincetl, along with other key individuals working on the initiative, discusses the first Grand Challenges Project that could change the face of Los Angeles forever.

Ojai Chautauqua Panel on Water Part III – September 30, 2018

Groundwater and a Sustainable LA: A Roadmap to Living Without Surface Water Imports, June 8, 2018

Big Coupled Data for Sustainable Urban Systems: Examples from Los Angeles -ISIE Webinar Series, March 28, 2018

Presentation in Kyoto, Japan, 2017: Research Initiatives for Urban Sustainability: Energy and Water

One Scientific Vision for a Sustainable Planet

Projects

Gas Stove burning

Mindful Gas Decommissioning

California’s goal of decarbonizing the state’s energy sector by 2045 requires an accompanying strategic approach to the decommissioning of the extensive gas infrastructure, currently comprising over 11 million meters and spanning more than 100,000 miles.

Solar Installation

LADWP – LA100 Equity Strategies Initiative

CCSC, in collaboration with UCLA Sustainable Grand Challenge LA, and other Campus researchers are conducting research for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to help the city achieve its goal of producing all of its energy from carbon-free and renewable energy sources by 2035 and doing so in ways that benefit all Angelenos equitably.

EnergymetersMontyDickersonPixnio

Equitable Electrification of Existing Buildings: A Pathway to Decarbonization

What’s involved when someone wants to electrify an existing home or multi-family building? Often times, a homeowner or landlord experiences unexpected complications when trying to retrofit their building. This study will assess the equity implications and costs of electrification for priority populations living and working in existing buildings.

water sprinkler

Water Management Conservation and Planning

In light of recent droughts, California is exploring ways of using water more wisely, eliminating water waste and strengthening local drought resilience. CCSC is working as part of a multi-institutional…

community solar opportunities map

Community Solar Opportunities Map

Where is the best place to put solar panels in your neighborhood? The solar opportunity map is a web tool built to assist community-based organizations to access data necessary to identify high potential sites for community solar or resiliency centers within LA County.

community solar opportunities map

The Healthy Home Study

As California moves forward with its aggressive agenda to decarbonize its energy system, care must be taken to assess the degree to which its pursuit of various energy system transformation pathways is likely to result in additional benefits for Californians. One extremely important category of benefits is the reduction of health risks that result from exposure to natural gas combustion by-products, both from appliances within homes and from grid scale generation stations.

los angeles sustainability plan

Los Angeles Sustainability Plan

The County of Los Angeles has developed the first county-wide sustainability plan, and has contracted with UCLA, in collaboration with the engineering firm Buro Happold, and with Liberty Hill Foundation.…

la water hub

LA Water Hub

The Water Hub is a dynamic visualization and mapping platform (http://waterhub.ucla.edu); an online data repository for viewing and finding water-related information in Los Angeles County.

See all projects

Recent Publications

Building an interactive web mapping tool to support distributed energy resource planning using public participation GIS

Eric D. Fournier, Felicia Federico, Robert Cudd, Stephanie Pincetl

Published Work | 2023 | Applied Geography

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Seeking Common Ground Between Theology and Sustainability Science for Just Transitions

Jason Sexton, Stephanie Pincetl

Published Work | 2022 | Zygon

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A tale of urban forest patch governance in four eastern US cities

Anita T. Morzillo, Lindsay K. Campbell, Kristen L. King, Katherine J. Lautar, Lydia Scott, Michelle L. Johnson, Mysha Clarke, Luke Rhodes, Stephanie Pincetl, Nancy F. Sonti, Dexter H. Locke, John Paul Schmit, Robert T. Fahey, Matthew E. Baker, Lindsay Darling, Lea R. Johnson

Published Work | 2022 | Urban Forestry & Urban Greening

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Net GHG Emissions and Air Quality Outcomes from Different Residential Building Electrification Pathways within a California Disadvantaged Community

Eric Daniel Fournier, Felicia Federico, Robert Cudd, Stephanie Pincetl, Alex Ricklefs, Marc Costa, Michael Jerrett, Diane Garcia-Gonzales

Published Work | 2022 | Sustainable Cities and Society

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Cities are not isolates: To reduce their impacts a change in urban-rural interdependencies and the direction of modernity are required

Stephanie Pincetl, Ph.D.

Published Work | 2022 | Advances in Applied Energy

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Community Scale Solar & Energy Resilience in California’s Disadvantaged Communities

CCSC Staff

Working Paper | 2022

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Are Residential Energy Efficiency Upgrades Effective? An Empirical Analysis in Southern California

Yating Chuang, Magali A. Delmas, Stephanie Pincetl

Published Work | 2022 | Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

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What Will it Take for an Energy Transition to be Just?

Stephanie Pincetl, Ph.D.

Presentation | 2022

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Sustainable Cities and the Question of the Climate. Comments to the CA State Assembly Transportation Committee March 2022

Stephanie Pincetl, PhD

Presentation | 2022

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Step Back from Scientific Hubris – Dr. Stephanie Pincetl talks with Nature Sustainability

Stephanie Pincetl, Ph.D

Published Work | 2021 | Nature Sustainability

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Climate Change, Extreme Heat, & the Future of LA’s Electric Power System

Eric D. Fournier, PhD., Felicia Federico, D. Env.; Stephanie Pincetl, PhD

Working Paper | 2021

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The Benefits and Limits of Urban Tree Planting for Environmental and Human Health

Diane E. Pataki, Marina Alberti, Mary L. Cadenasso, Alexander J. Felson, Mark J. McDonnell, Stephanie Pincetl, Richard V. Pouyat, Heikki Setälä and Thomas H. Whitlow

Published Work | 2021 | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, section Urban Ecology

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Implications of the timing of residential natural gas use for appliance electrification efforts

Eric Daniel Fournier, Robert Cudd, Felicia Federico and Stephanie Pincetl

Published Work | 2020 | Environmental Research Letters

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On energy sufficiency and the need for new policies to combat growing inequities in the residential energy sector

Eric Daniel Fournier, Robert Cudd, Felicia Federico and Stephanie Pincetl

Published Work | 2020 | Elementa: Science of the Anthroprocene

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Net solar generation potential from urban rooftops in Los Angeles

Erik Porse, Eric Fournier, Dan Cheng, Claire Hirashiki, Hannah Gustafson, Felicia Federico, Stephanie Pincetl

Published Work | 2020 | Energy Policy

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Political & Economic Drivers of Wildland-urban Interface (WUI) Development in California

S. Kennedy, S. Pincetl

Presentation | 2018

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Groundwater Exchange Pools and Urban Water Supply Sustainability: Modeling Directed and Undirected Networks

E. Porse, K. Mika, R. Williams, M. Gold. W. Blomquist, S. Pincetl

Published Work | 2018 | Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management

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California’s Changing Energy Landscapes: CCSC Comments on the California Public Utilites Commission’s Draft Green Book on Customer Choice

S. Pincetl, S. Kennedy

Other | 2018

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The economic value of local water supplies in Los Angeles

E. Porse, K. Mika, E. Litvak, K. Manago, T. Hogue, M. Gold, D. Pataki, S. Pincetl

Published Work | 2018 | Nature Sustainability

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Systems Analysis and Optimization of Local Water Supplies in Los Angeles

E. Porse, K. Mika, E. Litvak, K. Manago, K. Naik, M. Glickfeld, T. Hogue, M. Asce, M. Gold, D. Pataki, S. Pincetl

Other | 2017 | Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management

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Evaluating the Effects of Turf-Replacement Programs in Los Angeles County

Stephanie Pincetl, Thomas W. Gillespie, Diane Pataki, Erik Porse, Shenyue Jia, Erika Kidera, Nick Nobles, Janet Rodriguez, Dong-ha Choi

Progress Report | 2017

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CCSC’s Dr. Stephanie Pincetl Presenting the Energy Atlas at the #LGSEC Quarterly Meeting in San Diego, on June 2, 2017

Stephanie Pincetl, Hannah Gustafson

Presentation | 2017

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Dr. Felicia Federico gives AEC project presentation to LA County Supervisor, Hilda Solis’, district.

Presentation | 2017

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Achieving California’s 2030 Renewable Portfolio Standard and Electricity Sector Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Target

A. Fero

Other | 2017

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Whither Urban Water Policy in California: Regional Implications

S. Pincetl, E. Porse

Presentation | 2017

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Fact Sheet: Climate Change in Los Angeles County – Grid Vulnerability to Extreme Heat

Fact Sheet | 2016

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Structural, geographic, and social factors in urban building energy use: Analysis of aggregated account-level consumption data in a megacity

E. Porse, J. Derenski, H.Gustafson, Z.Elizabeth, S.Pincetl

Published Work | 2016 | Energy Policy

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Fact Sheet: The California Center for Sustainable Communities (CCSC)

Fact Sheet | 2016

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Cities as Novel Biomes: Recognizing Urban Ecosystem Services as Anthropogenic

Pincetl S.

Published Work | 2015 | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

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Water Management in Los Angeles County: a Research Report

S. Pincetl, M. Glickfeld, D. Cheng, M. Cope, K. Naik, E. Porse, P. Cleland, C. Hirashiki, E. Merton, K. Holdsworth, C. Kuklowski

Working Paper | 2015

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2015 Environmental Report Card for Los Angeles County

Mark Gold, Felicia Federico, Stephanie Pincetl

Report Card | 2015

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Evaluating collaborative institutions in context: the case of regional water management in Southern California

Sara Hughes, Stephanie Pincetl

Published Work | 2014 | Journal of Environment and Planning, Government and Policy

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Vision 2021 LA: A Model Environmental Sustainability Agenda for Los Angeles’ Next Mayor and City Council

M. Gold, S. Hecht, M. Herzog, C. Horowitz, K. Mika, S. Pincetl, X. Zhang

Published Work | 2012

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