Dr. Melissa Heil

Assistant Professor of Geography

Geography-Geology-Environment

Office Phone

About
Education
Awards & Honors
Research

Biography

Melissa Heil is an urban geographer who studies cities of the American Rustbelt. Her research has focused on urban planning, economic development, social services, and community development in cities like Detroit and Flint, Michigan. Dr. Heil’s most recent research examines urban water systems and barriers to water access in US cities.

Current Courses

142.002Human Geography

287.011Independent Study - Geography

370.001Urban and Regional Planning

470.001Urban and Regional Planning

PhD Geography

University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign

MA Geography

University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign

BA Organizational Studies

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor

Winner, Graduate Student Paper Competition

Urban Geography Specialty Group American Association of Geographers

2020

Book Review

Heil, M. Review: "Nor Any Drop to Drink: Flint's Water Crisis" (2018 Film). Water Alternatives (2022)

Heil, Melissa (2015). "Won’t you be my neighbor? Race, class, and residence in Los Angeles, by Camille Zubrinsky Charles." Book Review. Urban Geography.

Book, Chapter

Melissa Heil, Lou Turner, and David Wilson. “People of Color: Countering White Supremacy in Planning" Alternative Planning History and Theory. Routledge.

Journal Article

Heil, M. Barriers to Accessing Emergency Water Infrastructure: Lessons from Flint, MI. Water Alternatives (2022)

Heil, Melissa (2021). Debtor Spaces: Austerity, Space, and Financialized Dispossession. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space

Wilson, David and Melissa Heil (2020). Decline Machines: Economic Development in the American Rustbelt and Flint, MI.

Heil, Melissa (2018). Community Development Corporations in the Right-Sizing City: Remaking the CDC Model of Urban Redevelopment. Journal of Urban Affairs.

Presentations

Building Civic Connections for Students: Designing Courses for Civic and Political Engagement. 2023 University Teaching and Learning Symposium. Illinois State University. (2023)

Grants & Contracts

New Faculty Initiative Grant. College of Arts and Sciences, Illinois State University. Illinois State University. (2021)

Illinois Geographical Society Research Grant. Illinois Geographical Society. Private. (2020)

Graduate College Dissertation Completion Fellowship. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Other. (2019)

Charles S. Alexander Fellowship Graduate Fellowship for Women in Geography. Department of Geography and GIScience University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Other. (2018)