Theodore Lim

Theo Lim is an associate professor at UBC SCARP. He received his PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, a master of science in Environmental Engineering from Tsinghua University (China), and a bachelor’s degree in Immigrant Studies from Swarthmore College. From 2019 – 2024, he was an assistant professor of urban affairs and planning at Virginia Tech’s School of Public and International Affairs. While at Virginia Tech, he was the Principal Investigator on research projects funded by the US National Science Foundation and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, totaling ~ 2 million USD.

Outside academia, Theo has worked in community organizing, civil and environmental engineering and infrastructure planning, public health, and in the agriculture technology industry. He enjoys running, riding bikes, and writing/doodling with fountain pens.

The purpose of Theo’s research is to ensure information and knowledge are used to create healthy, just, and inclusive futures for the most marginalized in society amidst a period of accelerating global environmental and technological change. 

His research has two main emphases: 

1. How data and models are used in environmental policy and planning contexts; and
2. How to engage with community around urban climate adaptation to achieve just outcomes. 

He uses diverse methods: including participatory action research, more traditional tools of qualitative social science, as well as quantitative socio-environmental systems simulation. 

Theo’s research has been published in top-ranked journals in planning, including Journal of the American Planning Association, Landscape and Urban Planning, and Sustainable Cities & Society, as well as in environmental science and engineering journals, including Water Resources Research, and Environmental Science & Technology. The breadth of research outlets reflects his interdisciplinary academic training and professional experience, which has spanned from social and policy sciences and community organizing, to supercomputing, data science, and hydrological modeling.

The past several years, Theo has been engaged in an intensive participatory action research project in Roanoke, Virginia, related to urban heat mitigation efforts. The project takes a “trauma-informed, healing-centered” approach to planning with communities, and includes substantive involvement from youth in the definition of “community resilience” through arts, spirituality, and community science.