Beyond academic publications and presentations, I work to translate resilience research into formats that are useful for guiding policy and practice.

Professional guidance for the American Planning Association

Keith, Ladd, Sara Meerow, Anne-Lise Boyer, Minwoo Ahn. 2026. PAS MEMO: Planning for Rural Heat Resilience. American Planning Association. https://www.planning.org/publications/document/9331842/

Shaylynn Trego, David Hondula, Ladd Keith, Sara Meerow. 2026. “Phoenix’s first-of-it’s-kind plan shows shade is more than just trees.” Planning Magazine. https://www.planning.org/planning/2026/jun/phoenixs-first-of-its-kind-plan-shows-shade-is-more-than-just-trees

Keith, Ladd & Sara Meerow. 2022. PAS Report 600: Planning for urban heat resilience. Chicago: American Planning Association. www.planning.org/publications/report/9245695/ 

Keith, Ladd & Sara Meerow. 2021. PAS QuickNotes: Urban Heat Resilience. American Planning Association. https://www.planning.org/publications/document/9219132/ 

Keith, Ladd & Sara Meerow. 2021. “Beat Extreme Heat with These 8 Tactics.” Planning Magazine. https://www.planning.org/planning/2021/fall/beat-extreme-heat-with-these-8-tactics/

Meerow, Sara & Sierra C. Woodruff. 2020. “7 principles of strong climate change planning.” Planning Magazine. https://www.planning.org/planning/2020/jul/tools-japa-takeaway/

Toolkits for building heat resilience

 Turner, V. Kelly, Ladd Keith, Sara Meerow, Zach Wampler, and the Center for Heat Resilient Communities. 2026. Building Heat Resilient Communities A Toolkit for Local Planning, Decision-Making, and Action. https://innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/publication/building-heat-resilient-communities/

Sobhaninia, Saeideh, Sara Meerow, Ladd Keith, Halley Hughes, Maryam Shafiee Shakib, Alekzander Ryan, and Caroline Webster. 2026. Evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of heat action plans (Version 1.0). Red Cross Red Crescent Global Disaster Preparedness Center. DOI: 10.2458/10150.675350 Link: https://preparecenter.org/resource/evaluating-the-implementation-and-effectiveness-of-heat-action-plans/ 

Reports for city partners

Keith, Ladd, Sara Meerow, Malini Roy, Shaylynn Trego, Karli Barrett, Lindsey Jordan, K Sadashive Gowda. 2024. “Plan Evaluation for Heat Resilience: City of Flagstaff, AZ.” Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory (SW-IFL) – Arizona State University and University of Arizona. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/674046

Keith, Ladd, Sara Meerow, Malini Roy, Shaylynn Trego, Lindsey Jordan, Karli Barrett, K Sadashive Gowda. 2024. “Plan Evaluation for Heat Resilience: City of Mesa, AZ.” Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory (SW-IFL) – Arizona State University and University of Arizona. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/674047 

Keith, Ladd, Sara Meerow, Malini Roy, Shaylynn Trego, K Sadashive Gowda, Karli Barrett, Lindsey Jordan. 2024. “Plan Evaluation for Heat Resilience: City of Casa Grande, AZ.” Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory (SW-IFL) – Arizona State University and University of Arizona. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/674045

Keith, Ladd, Sara Meerow, Malini Roy, Shaylynn Trego, Lindsey Jordan, K Sadashive Gowda, Karli Barrett. 2024. “Plan Evaluation for Heat Resilience: City of Nogales, AZ.” Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory (SW-IFL) – Arizona State University and University of Arizona. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/674048 

Trego, Shaylynn, Sara Meerow, Ladd Keith, Malini Roy, Erika Schmidt, Bryan Leyba, Lindsey Jordan. 2023. Plan Evaluation for Heat Resilience: City of Phoenix, AZ.” Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory (SW-IFL) – Arizona State University and University of Arizona. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/670044 

Ladd Keith, Sara Meerow, Malini Roy, Shaylynn Trego, Erika Schmidt, Jack Haskins, Bryan Leyba. 2023. Plan Evaluation for Heat Resilience: City of Tucson, AZ.” Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory (SW-IFL) – Arizona State University and University of Arizona. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/669877 

Meerow, Sara, Ladd Keith, Roy, Malini, Shaylynn Trego, Erika Schmidt, Jack Haskins, Bryan Leyba. 2023. Plan Evaluation for Heat Resilience: City of Tempe, AZ.” Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory (SW-IFL) – Arizona State University and University of Arizona. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/670109

Keith, Ladd; Sara Meerow; Shaylynn Trego; Erika Schmidt; Philip Berke; Joseph DeAngelis. 2022. City of Kent, WA: Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard™ (PIRS™) For Heat.” https://www.planning.org/knowledgebase/urbanheat/

Meerow, Sara, Sierra C. Woodruff, Bryce Hannibal, Melina Matos, Malini Roy, Philip Gilbertson. 2021. “Building resilience in Seattle: An analysis of city plans.” Resilience Planning Networks Project. Tempe, AZ. Arizona State University and Texas A&M University. https://doi.org/10.48349/ASU/YXUSKY    

Meerow, Sara; Sierra C. Woodruff; Bryce Hannibal; Malini Roy; Melina Matos; Philip Gilbertson, 2021, “Building resilience in Fort Lauderdale: An analysis of city plans.” Resilience Planning Networks Project. Tempe, AZ. Arizona State University and Texas A&M University. https://doi.org/10.48349/ASU/8PHIUK 

Woodruff, Sierra C., Sara Meerow, Bryce Hannibal, Malini Roy, Melina Matos, Philip Gilbertson. 2021. “Building resilience in Baltimore: An analysis of city plans.” Resilience Planning Networks Project. Tempe, AZ. Arizona State University and Texas A&M University. https://doi.org/10.48349/ASU/UKDZ2U 

Woodruff, Sierra C., Sara Meerow, Bryce Hannibal, Malini Roy, Melina Matos, Philip Gilbertson. 2021, “Building resilience in Boston: An analysis of city plans.” Resilience Planning Networks Project. Tempe, AZ. Arizona State University and Texas A&M University. https://doi.org/10.48349/ASU/VPO9LD

Miller, Thaddeus R., Sara Meerow, Mary Fastiggi. 2019. “Organizing Resilience: lessons in resilience policy and planning.” Workshop report for the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. Tempe, AZ: Urban Resilience to Extremes SRN, Arizona State University.

Other reports

Tosline, Deborah, Anna Betis, Lindsay Bearup, Lisa McCauley, Sara Meerow, Christian Nilson. 2022. “Identifying Key Areas in the City of Phoenix for Infiltration and Retention Using Low Impact Development.” Bureau of Reclamation and the Nature Conservancy.

Stults, Melissa & Sara Meerow. 2017. “Professional societies and climate change: An analysis of how urban-focused professional societies are integrating climate change into their member engagement activities.” Troy, MI: The Kresge Foundation.

Mans, Ulrich & Sara Meerow. 2012. “Role of local governments in promoting renewable energy businesses: A contribution to a green urban economy.” ICLEI Global Report.

Blogs

Meerow, Sara & Anouk Fransen. 2025. “Participatory mapping of networks of care and nature-based solutions in Detroit.” The Nature of Cities. https://www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2025/10/04/participatory-mapping-of-networks-of-care-and-nature-based-solutions-in-detroit/

Meerow, Sara & Ladd Keith. 2023. “Growing Heat Hazards from Climate Change and the Urban Heat Island Need to Be Integrated Across Siloed Urban Plans. Here’s How.” The Nature of Cities. https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2023/06/21/growing-heat-hazards-from-climate-change-and-the-urban-heat-island-need-to-be-integrated-across-siloed-urban-plans-heres-how/

Keith, Ladd & Sara Meerow. 2022. “Planning for Urban Heat Resilience in Communities Across the U.S.” The Western Planner. https://www.westernplanner.org/2022/2022/10/21/planning-for-urban-heat-resilience-in-communities-across-the-us

Meerow, Sara & Ladd Keith. 2022. “Heat risks are rising in cities worldwide- Here’s how to plan for urban heat resilience.” The Nature of Cities. https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2022/06/13/heat-risks-are-rising-in-cities-worldwide-here-is-how-to-plan-for-urban-heat-resilience/ 

Meerow, Sara & Fabian G. Neuner. 2020. “Positively resilient: How framing local action affects public opinion.” Urban Affairs Forum https://urbanaffairsreview.com/2020/10/21/positively-resilient-how-framing-local-action-affects-public-opinion/ 

Meerow, Sara. 2018. “How do city resilience and climate change adaptation plans compare?” The Nature of Cities. https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2018/10/29/city-resilience-climate-change-adaptation-plans-compare/ 

Meerow, Sara & Lorenzo Chelleri. 2018. “Tracking resilience trade-offs: Let’s build a crowdsourced global database” The Nature of Cities https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2018/04/25/tracking-resilience-trade-offs-lets-build-crowdsourced-global-database/ 

Meerow, Sara & Joshua P. Newell. 2016. “What does it mean for a city to be resilient?” Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Viewpoints. https://ugecviewpoints.wordpress.com/2016/12/20/what-does-it-mean-for-a-city-to-be-resilient/

Op-eds

Keith, Ladd & Sara Meerow. 2021. “Opinion: Cities must plan for heat resilience now.” Thompson Reuters Foundation. https://news.trust.org/item/20210705161002-pz8g0/