University of New Orleans planning and urban studies professor Marla Nelson is recognized for her leadership on urban affairs.

University of New Orleans planning and urban studies professor Marla Nelson has been selected as a 2021 inductee into the Urban Affairs Association Honor Roll. Nelson is one of 16 people to receive the award, which recognizes the association’s most impactful service leaders.

The Urban Affairs Association (UAA) is the international professional organization for urban scholars, researchers and public/nonprofit service providers. The association is dedicated to creating interdisciplinary spaces for engaging in intellectual and practical discussions about urban life.

Nelson, who coordinates the Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program at UNO, has published widely on the impacts of and responses to industrial and occupational restructuring in U.S. cities and regions, human capital and interregional migration, and post-disaster recovery and redevelopment.  

Nelson’s current research focuses on adaptive migration as a critical site of action and examines how planning and policy can produce outcomes that are more just for residents and communities on the front line of climate and environmental change.

Nelson has held numerous positions in national and local organizations including the Urban Affairs Association. In 2011, the Urban Affairs Association awarded her the UAA-SAGE Activist Scholar Award.