Michelle Kondo | Biological Sensors | Excellence in Innovation

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Dr. Michelle Kondo | Biological Sensors | Excellence in Innovation

Research Social Scientist at USDA Forest Service, United States

Dr. Michelle Kondo is a prominent researcher known for her work in the field of urban health and environmental sustainability. She has made significant contributions to understanding the impact of green spaces on human health, particularly in urban settings. Dr. Kondo’s research focuses on nature-based interventions for disease, injury, and violence prevention, as well as the relationship between urban greenery and mental health. She has received several awards and honors for her work, including being recognized in the Top 10 Most Highly Cited Articles in Health & Place journal and receiving the Outstanding Experimental Field Trial award from the American Society of Criminology. Dr. Kondo’s research has been published in prestigious journals such as the American Journal of Public Health and the Lancet Planetary Health. In addition to her research, Dr. Kondo is actively involved in academic and community outreach. She has served as a faculty partner at the Urban Health Lab at the University of Pennsylvania and as an affiliate faculty member at Drexel University. Dr. Kondo’s work has had a significant impact on urban planning and public health policy, making her a leading figure in the field of urban health research.

Professional Profile

Education: 🎓

Dr. Michelle Kondo earned her Bachelor of Science in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1999. She then pursued her Master of Urban Planning in Urban Design & Planning at the University of Washington, graduating in 2001. Dr. Kondo continued her studies at the University of Washington, completing her Ph.D. in Urban Design & Planning in 2008, with a certificate in Urban Ecology. She furthered her research at the University of Pennsylvania, where she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Social Policy & Practice in 2012, followed by another postdoctoral fellowship in Epidemiology & Biostatistics in 2014.

Work Experiences:👨‍🏫

Since 2020, she has been a Faculty Partner at the Urban Health Lab, University of Pennsylvania, where she contributes to cutting-edge research in urban health. Simultaneously, since 2017, Dr. Kondo has served as an Affiliate Faculty member at Drexel University Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, further expanding her impact in the field. Her longstanding commitment to research is evident in her role as a Research Social Scientist at the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, since 2014, where she explores the intersection of nature and health. Dr. Kondo’s academic contributions extend to her role as an Adjunct Scholar at the Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, where she engages in collaborative research initiatives. In 2018, Dr. Kondo took a long-term training/sabbatical at the Barcelona Institute of Global Health, enriching her perspective and expertise in global health issues. Her dedication to public health is further demonstrated by her tenure as an Associate Fellow at the Center for Public Health Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania, from 2010 to 2018, where she actively contributed to public health initiatives. Dr. Kondo’s commitment to teaching and knowledge dissemination is evident in her role as the Lead GPS/GIS Instructor at the Guatemala Health Initiative, University of Pennsylvania, from 2012 to 2013.

Teaching Experience:📈

Dr. Michelle Kondo has extensive experience teaching graduate courses in various institutions. At Drexel University, she taught “Advanced GIS Methods in Public Health” in both the MPH program and the Urban Health Collaborative Summer Institute. At the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Kondo taught “American Racism in Social Work Practice” and “Understanding Social Change: Issues of Race and Gender” in the MSW program. Additionally, she taught “Ethics in Public and Non-Profit Administration” at Seattle University in the MPA program, along with “Introduction to GIS” at the same institution.

Research interests:

Dr. Michelle Kondo’s research interests include the intersection of nature and health, with a focus on developing place- and nature-based interventions for disease, injury, and violence prevention. She is particularly interested in exploring the effectiveness of nature prescriptions to support mental and physical health. Dr. Kondo also specializes in geospatial and community-based research methods, which she employs to study the relationship between natural environments and public health outcomes.

Honors:

Dr. Michelle Kondo has been recognized with several prestigious honors for her impactful research. In 2023, her work was acknowledged in the Top 10 Most Highly Cited Articles in the Health & Place journal for its examination of the relationship between spending time outdoors and stress reduction. In 2020, she received the Outstanding Experimental Field Trial award from the American Society of Criminology for a study conducted by Branas et al. in 2018. Her exceptional contributions were further highlighted in 2016 when she was awarded the Excellence in GSI Award for Best Research Paper by the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia, recognizing her publication in the American Journal of Public Health from 2015. Additionally, in the same year, she was a finalist for the Excellence in GSI Award for another notable paper published in the Journal of Environmental Quality. Dr. Kondo’s remarkable achievements were also acknowledged in 2015 with an Honorable Mention for the Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) from the U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development for her work published in Health & Place.

 

Publications:📄

Urban green space and its impact on human health – MC Kondo, JM Fluehr, T McKeon, CC Branas. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2018. [Citations: 946, Year: 2018]

Citywide cluster randomized trial to restore blighted vacant land and its effects on violence, crime, and fear – CC Branas, E South, MC Kondo, BC Hohl, P Bourgois, DJ Wiebe, et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018. [Citations: 367, Year: 2018]

Effect of greening vacant land on mental health of community-dwelling adults: a cluster randomized trial – EC South, BC Hohl, MC Kondo, JM MacDonald, CC Branas. JAMA Network Open, 2018. [Citations: 326, Year: 2018]

Does spending time outdoors reduce stress? A review of real-time stress response to outdoor environments – MC Kondo, SF Jacoby, EC South. Health & Place, 2018. [Citations: 250, Year: 2018]

Effects of greening and community reuse of vacant lots on crime – M Kondo, B Hohl, SH Han, C Branas. Urban Studies, 2016. [Citations: 185, Year: 2016]

Urban blight remediation as a cost-beneficial solution to firearm violence – CC Branas, MC Kondo, SM Murphy, EC South, D Polsky, JM MacDonald. American Journal of Public Health, 2016. [Citations: 166, Year: 2016]

Green space and mortality in European cities: a health impact assessment study – EP Barboza, M Cirach, S Khomenko, T Iungman, N Mueller, et al. The Lancet Planetary Health, 2021. [Citations: 160, Year: 2021]

Neighborhood interventions to reduce violence – MC Kondo, E Andreyeva, EC South, JM MacDonald, CC Branas. Annual Review of Public Health, 2018. [Citations: 154, Year: 2018]

Protecting the idyll but not the environment: Second homes, amenity migration and rural exclusion in Washington State – MC Kondo, R Rivera, S Rullman Jr. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2012. [Citations: 152, Year: 2012]

Neighborhood blight, stress, and health: a walking trial of urban greening and ambulatory heart rate – EC South, MC Kondo, RA Cheney, CC Branas. American Journal of Public Health, 2015. [Citations: 151, Year: 2015]

The impact of green stormwater infrastructure installation on surrounding health and safety – MC Kondo, SC Low, J Henning, CC Branas. American Journal of Public Health, 2015. [Citations: 130, Year: 2015]

A difference-in-differences study of the effects of a new abandoned building remediation strategy on safety – MC Kondo, D Keene, BC Hohl, JM MacDonald, CC Branas. PloS One, 2015. [Citations: 120, Year: 2015]

The association between urban trees and crime: Evidence from the spread of the emerald ash borer in Cincinnati – MC Kondo, SH Han, GH Donovan, JM MacDonald. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2017. [Citations: 112, Year: 2017]