Dr. Sarah L. Coffin (PhD, AICP) is an associate professor at Saint Louis University in the School of Social Work where she directs the Master of Science in Urban Planning and Development Program. St. Louis University is one of the area universities that partners with Rise in doing local research and technical assistance.

Dr. Coffin’s work focuses on the intersection of economic development and environmental planning in post-industrial cities. She has published work that examines the impacts of brownfields, vacant properties, and more recently development incentives on weak market economies and whether new ways of framing the redevelopment question might provide positive benefits for distressed communities. In addition, Dr. Coffin served as the principal investigator for the university team that supported the recently completed, HUD-funded OneSTL grant. In that role she lead the effort to establish a regional data portal called the St Louis Regional Data Exchange as a means to promote further open data opportunities across the region. She was also the primary author for the 2010 statewide evaluation of the Missouri Historic Preservation Tax Credit program sponsored by the Missouri Growth Association where she examined impacts of the program on jobs and revenue. Prior to arriving in St. Louis in 2003, Dr. Coffin spent two years at the University of Louisville working for the EPA’s Environmental Finance Center in Region 4 as a post doctoral researcher where she developed the brownfield and development incentives frameworks she currently uses to analyze communities.