Open Classroom: Housing Justice & Land Use

Sydney Clements
Visiting Assistant Professor, Geography, Eastern CT State University

Born and raised in Willimantic/Mansfield, CT, I’ve spent nearly a decade in community organizing throughout eastern Connecticut. I’ve held leadership roles in grassroots organizations such as the Windham Community Food Network, Grow Windham and the New Connecticut Farmers Alliance. During this time, I enjoyed building partnerships with Eastern professors and hosting students as interns for various projects. My research focuses on building more sustainable local food hubs throughout the state of Connecticut. Using GIS mapping and stakeholders input we develop solutions to help increase food access for consumers that also support economic viability for small farmers.

DAVID DICKSON
Senior Cooperative Extension Educator, the Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR)

Dave Dickson is an Extension Educator, the Director of the UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR), and the Co-Director of the CT NEMO program. CLEAR seeks to provide communities with tools, research, and support to make land use decisions that balance natural resource protection with community growth. This support focuses on these programmatic areas: water, climate resiliency, land use planning, mapping, sustainable food, and STEM education. As the Co-Director of the NEMO program at CLEAR, he works primary on municipal stormwater management issues, but also provides outreach and training focused on mobile mapping technologies as a member of CLEAR’s Geospatial Training Program and instructor in the Natural Resources Conservation Academy. He is the co-creator of the Rain Garden smartphone app and National LID Atlas. When pressed, or convenient, he will admit to being a lawyer by training, although not by practice or inclination.

Dave has both a J.D. and a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Colorado, where he served as a notes and comments editor of the Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy. Dave is also a UCONN alum, with a BA in Anthropology and Political Science. His pre-CAHNR professional experience includes: coordinating environmental policy and education projects for the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals (NALGEP), representing municipalities before Congress and federal agencies, serving as a liaison between the University of Colorado and both the state legislature and Congress and coordinating an international project that sought to uncover unethical marketing practices in developing countries.