Nicholas Marantz is an Associate Professor at UCI under the Urban Planning and Public Policy Department. Professor Marantz’s journey began while working for the City of New York where he realized he wanted to be involved in social policy. He then attended Law School and successfully completed a concurrent degree for a Master’s in Public Policy. After finishing his higher educational path, he began his tenure here at UCI where he focuses on teaching students and researching. To touch upon his current research efforts, Mr. Marantz currently focuses on the intersection between law and the current housing crisis. Specifically, he dives into the topic of how this intersection connects to the current environmental concerns that are pertinent to our society. For instance, he explains that as we seek to expand housing into outer lands of a city, commutes expand and, as a result, this directly leads to the increase of C02 emissions. He says that the end goal of such research is to help policy and lawmakers to promote housing affordability in ways that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

When asked about his inspiration for going into this field, he addresses the pressing concerns of inequity in the national commonplace. Switching to the education of the PK-12 system, Professor Marantz suggests that teachers in the latter part of the system focus on educating highschool students about newspaper reporting from famous authors. He believes that it's a valuable concept for highschool students to learn more non-conventional, well-informed sources such as newspapers or articles. In terms of climate action, he suggests that students engage in less-popular protests such as housing, affordability, and many more. Along with education, he agrees that protest action can be very effective and a productive way for students to be engaged. Lastly, he mentions that the importance of remembering that there is no “magic solution”. There will always be trade offs regarding such climate issues and that sacrifice will need to be made for those advancements that are worthwhile.