About Mia Karisa's Work
Mia Karisa Dawson is an urban human geographer and educator. Since receiving her doctorate in Geography in 2023 from the University of California, Davis, Mia received postdoctoral awards from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Mia studies interrelated systems of policing, property rights, and environmental discourse in U.S. cities. She does so in collaboration with community organizers who analyze and intervene in these systems as part of their political programs.
Mia’s doctoral research was grounded in community partnerships to understand dynamics of policing and property rights in the urban environment of Sacramento, California. Alongside this project, Mia worked on collaborative research with the UC Davis Violence Prevention Program and Public Health Advocates to develop community violence intervention programs and alternative first response systems. Her research program stems from her background in environmental equity, including research and advocacy with the UC Davis Center for Regional Change concerning disparities in health outcomes due to air and water quality in California. Currently, as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Mia is broadening her research program to include cities in the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area.
Mia’s work has been published in journals including Urban Geography, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, Frontiers in Public Health, ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, and Water Alternatives. She has also published through independent presses including the UC Davis Center for Regional Change and LISC: the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.
