ALICE SVERDLIK

PhD Candidate • City and Regional Planning, UC Berkeley •

EDUCATION

PhD, UC Berkeley, Department of City and Regional Planning, 2011-presentGPA: 4.0.

Committee: Jason Corburn (chair), Charisma Acey, and Alison Post (political science)

Teaching Experience: CP 200, Master’s-level course on History of City Planning (Ananya Roy, fall 2012)

Coursework City Planning: Comparative Urban Policies (Caldeira); Global Metropolitan Studies 200: Introduction to Theories, Histories, and Methods (Caldeira); Independent Study on Infrastructure and African City Planning (Corburn); Independent Study on Gender and Sanitation in East Africa (Corburn); Development: Theory and Practice (Roy) Political Science: Politics in Developing Cities (Post); Independent Study on Urban Governance and Infrastructure (Post); Independent Study on Urban Violence in Kenya (Arriola) Interdisciplinary: Africa in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Kanogo); Water and Development (Isha Ray); Cities and Citizenship (Holston)

Master’s: University College London, MSc Urban Economic Development, Distinction (2010) Coursework in gender policy and planning, managing the city economy, and urban development. Thesis: Accommodating Home-Based Work: A Gender Analysis in Ahmedabad (Received A+)

London School of Economics, MSc Social Policy (Research), Distinction (2009)

Coursework in international housing policy, history of British housing, social research and statistical methods. Thesis: Improving Housing and Community Governance in Kambi Moto, Nairobi (Received Distinction)

Undergraduate: University of Chicago B.A. history with honors (2006). GPA: 3.89 Thesis: International Famine Relief in China, 1920-1933 (using archives at Yale and Stanford)

AWARDS andFELLOWSHIPS

PhD: Global Metropolitan Studies Summer Fellowship (2015, 2016), Graduate Division Summer Grant (2014, 2015, 2016), Dean’s Normative Time Fellowship (2015-6), Rocca African Studies 2014 PhD Fellowship, DCRP Departmental Award (Fall 2014 and Spring 2015), FLAS Swahili fellowship (2013-14), Teitz Fellowship (competitive DCRP award for underrepresented issues in planning, 2013), Graduate Division Block Grant (2011-13), Power Top-Off Award (2011), DCRP Departmental Award Fund (2011-12)

Master’s: Marshall Scholar, one of 37 recipients (2008-2010)

Undergraduate: Phi Beta Kappa (2006), Maroon Key Honors Society (2005), Dean’s List (all semesters 2002-6), Mann Travel Grant for Thesis Research (2005), National Merit Scholar (2002-6)

PUBLICATIONS

Co-author with G. Githiri, et al. (2016). Nourishing livelihoods: recognizing and supporting food vendors in Nairobi’s informal settlements. IIED Working Paper, London.

Co-author with Jason Corburn (2016).Informal Settlement Upgrading and Health Equity, in J. Corburn and L. Riley, eds., Slum Health: From the Cell to the Street, University of California Press, forthcoming.

Co-author with Ahmed, S., et al. (2015). Cooking Up a Storm: Community-led mapping and advocacy with food vendors in Nairobi’s informal settlements. IIED Working Paper, London.

Contributing author in D. Reckien, et al. (2016). Climate Change Interactions with Equity and Environmental Justice. In Climate Change and Cities: Second Assessment Report of the Urban Climate Change Research Network.

Co-author with Revi, A., D. Satterthwaite, et al. (2014). Towards transformative adaptation in cities: the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment.Environment and Urbanization,26(1), 11-28.

Co-author with D. Satterthwaite (2013). Energy Access and Housing for Low-Income Groups in Urban Energy Systems, ed. ArnulfGrubleret al., Global Energy Analysis,Cambridge University Press.

Sverdlik, A. (2011). Ill-health and poverty: a literature review on health in informal settlements.Environment and Urbanization,23(1), 123-155.

RESEARCH and FIELDWORK EXPERIENCE

Consultant, World Health Organization,October 2015-present

Conduct a scoping review on slum upgrading and health (with Jason Corburn and David Satterthwaite).

Gender Consultant, Practical Action East Africa,Nairobi, August 2014

Completed an extensive literature review on sanitation, resulting in 5-page summary and 20-page annotated bibliography on gender-sensitive, inclusive provision in East African informal settlements.

Graduate Student Researcherfor Jason Corburn, Berkeley, 2011-2012

Reviewed literature on health impacts of slum upgrading in African, Asian, and Latin American cities. Contributed research and wrote sections of Berkeley Studio Report on Mathare Valley, Nairobi.

IIED, Human Settlements Research Assistant, London, January 2009-July 2012

Researched household energy use and climate change. Wrote Book Notes forEnvironment Urbanization.

Master’s Fieldwork in Kenya and Uganda, April 2009 and May 2010

Managed project of 7 UCL students examining Uganda’s health decentralization. Led background research and conducted fieldwork for 2 weeks in Kampala and Mbarara, including interviews with health ministry and local officials, NGOs, and patients (group report earnedan A). In April 2009, conducted 3 weeks of fieldwork for LSE thesis on a community-led upgrading project in Nairobi (Thesis received distinction).

Pamoja Trust, Volunteer, Nairobi, May 2008-September 2008

Documented Mathare Valley water project and edited 200-page inventory of slums in Nairobi. Wrote letters, press releases, and petitions to prevent evictions of residents in Mukuru, Nairobi.

OTHER RESEARCH and PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE

IPCC Voluntary Chapter Scientist, Chapter 8, Urban Areas,February 2011-October 2013

Reviewed literature on urban climate change, synthesized articles, edited text, responded to reviewers’ comments, and managed 700 citations in RefWorks. Attended conferences in Slovenia and Argentina.

University College London, Part-Time Research Assistant, London, Sept. 2010-March 2011

Reviewed literature on gender and transport in the Global South for Professor Caren Levy, which was presented at a UCL talk. Updated reading lists on urban developmentand gender planning.

Inclusive Communities Project, Part-Time Research Assistant, Dallas, Oct. 2007-April 2008

Provided research support to Elizabeth Julian for an Indiana Law Review article on fair housing.

Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, VISTA Housing Specialist, Chicago, 2006-2007

Researched public and affordable housing, including memos for senior attorney. Co-authored a report on housing voucher portability.Wrote and disseminated materials on housingfor domestic violence survivors.

Sobrevivencia, Human Rights Intern, Asunción, Paraguay, summer 2005

Wrote 5000-word report in Spanish on seeds and protecting indigenous knowledge. Taught 2 classes on environmental rights.

SKILLS and SERVICE

Intermediate Swahili.Near-fluent in Spanish.Proficient in RefWorks. Competent in SPSS.

Served on UC Berkeley’s Rhodes and Marshall Scholarship Selection Committee (fall 2015)

Invited External Reviews:Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (2012), Environment, Development, & Sustainability (2013)