Tatiana Height
Tatiana Height
Dr. Tatiana Height is a leading environmental and urban planner. They attended the University of Nebraska and North Carolina State, where she studied Agribusiness Entrepreneurship, Environmental Studies, and Community & Regional Planning. Dr. Height has had positions such as the state of Nebraska’s Integrated Water Management Planner, Community Development Planner for the City of Kinston, Stormwater Project Coordinator for the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Program Director for Partners for Environmental Justice, and Lecturer of Sustainability and Coastal Resilience with Coastal Carolina University. Dr. Height is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the American Forest Foundation and founder of Height Environmental Justice & Planning.
Height, T. C., Martin, K. L., & Leggett, Z. H. (2023). Call for environmental justice amplification among ecology scholars and practitioners. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 104(1), 1-14.
Height, T., Ngadjui, O. T., Hoover, F. A., & Dillon, J. A. (2021). The 2020 Social and Environmental Apocalypse: Reimagining Black America. American Studies, 60(3), 163-183.
Height, T. (2017). Analyzing communities in Black America: How urban and regional planners can plan for prosperous black communities.
For her undergraduate career, Dr. Tatiana Height attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where they pursued Great Plains Studies and minored in Agribusiness Entrepreneurship, Environmental Studies, and Community & Regional Planning. Dr. Height continued their studies at this institution, pursuing a Master’s in City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning. At the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Dr. Height was involved in organizations and extracurriculars such as the Multicultural Young Professionals Network, the Planning and the Black Community Division of the American Planning Association, and the Nebraska Women Leadership Network. Dr. Height received her Doctor of Education (EdD) from North Carolina State in 2022, where she worked as an Adjunct Environmental Ethics Professor and participated in the Black Graduate Student Association, the Young Planner Group of APA-NC, the Council for Black Studies, the Association of Multicultural Educators, and the Black Doctoral Network. Dr. Height also has two graduate certificates – a Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management certificate from the University of Northern Iowa and a certificate in Outdoor Adventure Sports from Liberty University.
At the start of their environmental career, Dr. Height worked seasonally at Camp Friedenswald as an Environmental Stewardship Assistant. While at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, they worked as an Admissions Counselor, counseling prospective out-of-state undergraduate students. Dr. Height continued her work in Nebraska, working for the state of Nebraska as an Integrated Water Management Planner. Dr. Height then moved her work to North Carolina, transitioning into the position of Community Development Planner for the City of Kinston. Dr. Height then became the Stormwater Project Coordinator for the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where they worked part-time for a half year. While they were in this position, Dr. Height worked part-time as an Economic Development Analyst for NCGrowth & SmartUp, working toward increasing local environmental education, outdoor recreation, and cultural heritage. At the same time, Dr. Height was the American Planning Associate as a Social Media Administrator for Planning the Black Community Division of the APA.
In the fall of 2020, Dr. Height began working as a program director for Partners for Environmental Justice, where they had many achievements, including launching the Raleigh Watershed Learning Network. Dr. Height has teaching experience from contract positions throughout their educational career and working with Coastal Carolina University as a Sustainability and Coastal Resilience Lecturer. In this position, Dr. Height taught a class entitled Introduction to Sustainability and Community Sustainability and an introductory environmental justice class.
In 2021, Dr. Height joined the American Forest Foundation (AFF) as a Southern Regional Director for the Family Forest Carbon Program. Dr. Height is now the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Dr. Height has also founded her consulting firm, Height Environmental Justice & Planning, with the purpose of “helping to plan for, educate, and empower urban and BIPOC communities” (Height, 2018).
Many of the ways Dr. Height functions now as a professional result from pieces of wisdom they gained from various mentors. Dr. Height says their mentors may not realize the impact of their words, but they incorporate them into their working behavior. Dr. Height has one mentor they turn to professionally when they are in a tight spot and need advice. Another mentor, a member of her doctoral committee, is someone Dr. Height has aspired to be like as a classroom instructor. Dr. Height has also tried to be a mentor to those behind me. In the words of Sophia Nelson, Esq., Dr. Height tries to “lift others as I climb.”
“Read the job descriptions of positions that you would like to hold one day and see what skills they’re asking for. Then, do what you can to acquire the education, skills, and credentials that would make you competitive for those roles. Also, connect with people on LinkedIn who have the career trajectories you aspire to. You may glean insights from connecting with or following those individuals. Also, remember that nobody will put you first but you. Work hard, practice self-care, and make the career choices that prioritize your personal well-being” (Height, 2023).
About. (2018). Height Environmental Justice & Planning. https://www.heightenvironmentaljusticeplanning.com/about
Tatiana Heights. (2023). Linkedin.com. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tatiana-height-cnp-leader/
Survey and interviews conducted by Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Sustainability Initiative staff. 2022-2023. Yale University-School of the Environment. New Haven, Connecticut.
Tatiana Heights, 2023