Dr. Berneece S. Herbert
601-979-8732
berneece.herbert@jsums.edu
Biography
Dr. Herbert is a results-oriented and people-centered professional with over 20 years of practice, academic, and research experience. She currently serves as the chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Jackson State University (JSU) in Jackson, Mississippi. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Herbert worked at Alabama A&M University (AAMU) for over 12 years and served as the Interim Chair for the Department of Community & Regional Planning for three years.
Dr. Herbert’s experience and accomplishments include teaching core Urban Planning courses with specialty areas in GIS, Advanced Statistics, and International Development Planning and Policy. She was also the Principal Investigator (PI) for three large USDA-sponsored grants focusing on climate change, food security, and sustainable communities at AAMU. At JSU she is a PI on three research projects on job equity, labor, and climate impacts on maritime transportation infrastructure. She is a member of two consortia with the University of Louisiana and UC Berkeley currently developing proposals to submit to NSF on climate change and impact on vulnerable communities. She has partnered with numerous agencies, such as Clean Energy States Alliance, 2CMississippi, One Voice, and Jobs to Move America on projects focusing on advancing solar energy, green infrastructure, heat mitigation, energy burden, and community empowerment in underserved and under-represented communities. Dr. Herbert has served on several committees and boards. She serves on the City of Jackson’s Board of Construction and on Jackson Public Schools’ Facility Repurposing Advisor Committee. She was a lead reviewer for USDA’s Local Foods Promotion Program and Farmer’s Market Proportion Program. She served as the faculty advisor for AAMU-Toyota joint mobility challenge. She served as the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) Southern Regional Representative to the board for 2021 – 2023. Dr. Herbert was also highlighted by ACSP as a Featured Faculty. She is a member of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory advisory committee on an energy equity project sponsored by DOE. She is also a manuscript reviewer for the Journal of the American Planning Association.
As service to her local community, she functioned as President of the Caribbean Association of North Alabama. She also had the opportunity to be the mentor to one of the winners of the small business innovation grant for the State Department’s Young Leaders of America Initiative. Dr. Herbert is spearheading several research and community engagement activities with local organizations in Jackson, MS. Dr. Herbert is currently engaging with FEMA to lead the City of Rolling Fork’s Disaster Recovery planning process. Dr. Herbert has recently partnered with Cornell University, Clark Atlanta, and four other HBCUs to work on a grant-funded project on advancing black workers in the South. She is also a faculty liaison for the HBCU Sustainable Communities Initiative funding by UNCF, INROADS and the Thurgood Marshall Fund.
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