Christa Daniels, Ph.D., AICP is a passionate changemaker and nationally recognized expert in land use, climate resilience, and community engagement. Her work bridges policy, people, and place—empowering leaders, students, and communities to design equitable, vibrant, and livable futures.
As a Resident Scholar at the Irving Institute for Energy & Society and a Lecturer at Dartmouth's Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, Christa brings systems thinking and grounded action to the forefront of climate and resilience education. She believes that transformational change is possible when communities are empowered to lead.
Christa also serves as a Senior Advisor to the Telosa Community Foundation, guiding inclusive engagement strategies around climate resilience and land use planning. She helped shape Telosa's Community Connections Toolkit, a forward-looking resource that fosters deep, place-based collaboration aligned with Telosa's bold vision for a regenerative city of the future.
Previously, Christa served as Program Director for the MS in Resource Management and Administration at Antioch University and as a Senior Associate at the Center for Climate Preparedness and Community Resilience. Her research has explored proactive strategies for climate migration and integrating equity at every level of climate action.
Her career includes impactful work with the United Nations, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Clean Air-Cool Planet, and the City of Keene, where she served as a city planner. She also led an innovative in situ 3D sea-level rise visualization project in the San Francisco Bay Area, building public support for adaptation solutions.
Dr. Daniels holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from Antioch University, an M.S. in Resource Management and Administration, and a B.A. in Political Science from Pace University. She lives in New Hampshire, where she enjoys snowboarding, biking, hiking, and running outdoors with her husband and 13-year-old son.