Dr. Jordan Blekking

• Assistant Professor

Food accessibility, food security, food environments, food systems, human-environmental interactions, spatial analysis, geographic information science

jblekkin@charlotte.edu

McEniry 419

Teaching

GEOG 3120 Fundamentals of GIS

GEOG 4000/5000 Community Data, Development and Vitality

DTSC 2301 / 2302 Society and Modeling A and B

I serve as the department’s Undergraduate Program Coordinator for Geography and Environmental Studies. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions related to those majors. I really love using and teaching GIS, so if you have an idea for a GIS project, stop by and let’s chat.

Research

Interests: Food accessibility, food security, food environments, food systems, human-environmental interactions, spatial analysis, social data science, geographic information science

I am interested in human-environmental interactions and how these interactions are linked to social-spatial inequalities, which shape livelihood and wellbeing outcomes. In short, how does where you live, where you work, or where you shop shape your life? My research is highly applied – I typically partner with on-the-ground practitioners, and I tend to use geospatial and statistical methods. Currently, I am working on two primary projects.

1. In a project I am currently leading, I am collaborating with researchers from the Centre for Urban Research and Policy (CURP) – where I’m a senior research associate – at the University of Zambia to estimate food access at the household level using a combination of survey data, remotely sensed layers, and social data science methods. We are currently focused on Lusaka, Zambia, but in the next two years the project will expand, in partnership with local non-governmental organizations, to other large Southern African cities.

2. In collaboration with researchers from the Charlotte Urban Institute, I am using spatial data science to estimate and evaluate the availability and accessibility of healthy, nutritious foods provided by a range of food retailers (e.g., supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, ethnic markets, among others) across the United States. This project also involves qualitative research to provide critical context regarding consumer decisions regarding alternative food retailers.

Prior to coming to UNC Charlotte, I was a postdoctoral associate at Cornell University. I earned my Ph.D. in Geography from Indiana University in 2022. My doctorate investigated how rapid urbanization in Southern African cities impacts the development of food retail environments and urban food systems. I earned a Master of Science in Geography from Indiana University, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies and Applications from Michigan State University, and an Associate of Arts from Kellogg Community College. I served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia from 2012 to 2015, and I have conducted research in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, and Zambia.

Recent Publications

Blekking, J., Waldman, K., Hemerijckx, L. M., & Kaputula, M. (2026). Using spatial data to identify food accessibility in large African cities. World Development, 200, 107298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107298

Blekking, J., Waldman, K., Nyaidho, O., & Otieno, D. (2026). Temporally Relevant SMS Reminders Can Reinforce Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices. Environment and Behavior, 00139165251390702. https://doi.org/10.1177/00139165251390702

Hannah, C., Blekking, J., Davies, J., Battersby, J., Chilenga, A., Kabuya, D., & Toriro, P. (2025). Urban African food systems as sites of challenges and opportunities for household food equity and resilience. Ecology and Society, 30(3). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-16259-300328

Waldman, K., Blekking, J., Jain, M., Nkonde, C., & Vergopolan, N. What discrepancies between farmer perceptions and observational data teach us about smallholder decision making. Environmental Research Letters, 20(8), 081002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adeff3

Blekking, J., Waldman, K., Davies, J., Kaputula, M., Nelson, E., & Robeson, S. M. (2023). Rapid urbanization and uneven development of the food retail environment. Geoforum, 147, 103893.

Blekking, J., Giroux, S., Waldman, K., Battersby, J., Tuholske, C., Robeson, S. M., & Siame, G. (2022). The impacts of climate change and urbanization on food retailers in urban sub-Saharan Africa. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 55, 101169.

Brondizio, E. S., Giroux, S. A., Valliant, J. C., Blekking, J., Dickinson, S., & Henschel, B. (2023). Millions of jobs in food production are disappearing—a change in mindset would help to keep them. Nature, 620(7972), 33-36.