Mehdi Heris, Ph.D. – Domain Specialist

Mehdi Heris, PH.D., is an urban planner with extensive experience in urban geospatial data analytics, remote sensing, and Python development. His broad research is focused on bridging the science of urban ecosystems with planning policies and processes. Mehdi collaborates with city planners in multiple cities, including New York City, Denver, CO, and Cambridge, MA, to develop policies regarding heat mitigation and green infrastructure.

As an expert in applying geospatial sciences to urban environments, he has extensively researched the environmental benefits of urban trees, including heat mitigation, rainfall interception, and air quality improvement, by building models at both the site and national levels. He has developed and published several datasets, including a national rasterized building dataset and Denver’s tree cover. Mehdi is also an avid street photographer and urbanist.