Architecture-East Building, 305-C

Download CV
LinkedIn profile

Specialization Area: Environment and Health, Climate Change

Dr. Jairo Garcia is an expert in sustainable urban development, carbon mitigation, and climate resiliency. Dr. Garcia's main area of research is focused on elements of spatial data analysis for ecological assessments and to identify climate vulnerabilities and risk analysis. 

As the former Director of Climate Policies and Renewables with the City of Atlanta, Dr. Garcia developed the first Climate Action Plan and led a coalition of stakeholders to craft the application for Rockefeller’s 100 Resilient Cities program, which the City of Atlanta was awarded in 2016. 
He also represented the City of Atlanta at the COP23 Climate Summit of Local and Regional 
Leaders in Bonn, Germany. 

In 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conferred Dr. Garcia with the Individual Climate Leadership Award in recognition for his demonstrated “extraordinary leadership” both in addressing climate change and engaging organization, peers, and partners. 


Dr. Garcia holds an engineering degree, an MSc in Management of Information Technologies from Syracuse University, an MSc in Sustainability Management from Columbia University, and a Doctoral degree in Educational Technology and Sustainability from Pepperdine University. He has held research and academic positions with the Earth Institute at Columbia University, UCLA, and presently teaches classes at Georgia Tech in Sustainable Urban Development, the Sustainable Cities Studio, and Introduction to Land Use Planning.