Arizona State University
PO Box 872402
Tempe AZ 85287
480-727-6780
sharon.harlan@asu.edu
Dr. Harlan studies patterns, processes and outcomes of class, gender, and ethnic inequalities in contemporary U.S. society. Her recent work is on interdisciplinary problems of social and environmental inequity brought about by rapid urbanization in the Phoenix, AZ, metropolitan region. She is the principal investigator of a project examining urban vulnerability to climate change as a dynamic feature of coupled natural and human systems that differentially place landscapes and people at risk from extreme heat. This three-year study continues her collaborative, interdisciplinary studies on spatial variation in the urban heat island and the implications of climate change for heat-related health inequalities in urban neighborhoods. She also directs the Phoenix Area Social Survey, which examines people's values, attitudes, and behaviors concerning the local environment and the impact of income and ethnic residential segregation on social and physical environmental inequalities. Dr. Harlan teaches courses on the social and environmental impacts of industrial production systems and on the reproduction of social inequalities through educational institutions.
Selected Publications
Harlan, S. L., and D. M. Ruddell. 2011. Climate change and health in cities: Impacts of heat and air pollution and potential co-benefits from mitigation and adaptation. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 3:126-134.
Ruddell, D. M., S. L. Harlan, S. Grossman-Clarke, and A. Buyantuyev. 2010. Risk exposure to extreme heat in microclimates of Phoenix, AZ. Pp. 179-202 in P. Showalter and Y. Lu, eds., Geospatial Techniques in Urban Hazard and Disaster Analysis. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Harlan, S. L., S. Yabiku, L. Larsen, and A. Brazel. 2009. Household water consumption in an arid city: Affluence, affordance, and attitudes. Society and Natural Resources 22:691-709.
Harlan, S. L., A. Brazel, G. D. Jenerette, N. S. Jones, L. Larsen, L. Prashad, and W. L. Stefanov. 2008. In the shade of affluence: The inequitable distribution of the urban heat island. Research in Social Problems and Public Policy 15:173-202.