Research

As a scholar, my work interrogates sociocultural narratives surrounding the commodification of land and its material and political implications.

I utilize an interdisciplinary framework draw from (post)colonial studies, critical geography, political ecology, liberation pedagogy, and Queer, Asian, and Indigenous ecologies and employ community-based participatory research, youth participatory action research, and ethnography to center marginalized knowledges and community-driven analysis.

I have widespread experience from critical theory research to centering community participatory methods in the geosciences.

• UT-City Colab, University of Texas Austin

  • 2024-2025

  • Advance the CoLab’s purpose of developing climate science data tools to inform Austin city departments’ goals and policies to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events such as heat waves, wildfires, droughts, flooding, poor air quality etc

  • Co-Investigator on research funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, "UT City Climate Collaborative for Cummunity-scale Extreme Weather and Environmental Data Collaborative for Science Informed Decision Making"

  • Co-Investigator on research "Austin Climate Adaptation and Resilience Communities" research project, 1 of the 8 projects selected by NASA Earth Action program

  • The UNESCO X UT City CoLab partnership was endorsed by the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) of the World Meteorological Organization / World Weather Research Programme (WWRP)

• Project CRESSEL, University of Texas Austin

  • 2024-2025

  • Co-Investigator, Project CRESSEL, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

  • Leading community engagement for the Community Resilience integrated into an Earth System Science Learning Ecosystem project, which is a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation to partner geoscience researchers and Austin community members to address issues of community climate resilience.

  • Recruited 10 community members and collaborated with researchers to conduct indoor water testing

• Cumulative Impact, National Science Academies

  • 2025

  • Served as community liaison for the 2025 Cumulative Impact study by National Science Academies

• Master Thesis, Harvard Graduate School of Education

  • Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2023

  • Researching the gaps and failures of climate education with mentorship from Professor Laura Shifter, Aaliyah El-Amin, and Mike Gregory

  • Developing a critical climate justice education framework

• Haber Lab, Harvard Chan School of Public Health

  • 2022-2023

  • Researching the relationship between asthma rates and poor housing conditions & pollution across Boston and Austin

• Colorado River Conservancy

  • 2021-2022

  • Trained 50 community members to conduct monthly water quality testing to determine pollution and contamination  

  • Acquired partnership with RESET Lab to conduct air quality monitoring alongside the river

  • Utilizing a participatory approach provide research and analysis on local, state, and federal policies and proposals to address unjust environmental and social burdens faced by BIPOC communities, coordinating analysis with staff and programs as well as external partner and allies

• Dean's Award for Summer Research

  • 2020

  • Awarded $2000 by New York University to conduct research on the land use & commodification of land in Austin, TX

  • Designed and implemented community-driven qualitative/quantitate research through focus groups, surveys, and workshops in partnership with PODER

  • Introduced a comprehensive anti-gentrification policy proposal to city council, successfully implemented new building demolition processes

• Research Associate, PODER

  • Awarded $70,000 by the City of Austin Health Department to research the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 in East Austin

  • Conducted an participatory ethnographic study by talking to over 2,000 people on COVID-19 and climate health, designed surveys, graphs, and final report

• Senior Thesis, New York University

  • 2020

  • Authored a 50-page analysis of neoliberalism and the far right in France through the lens of the gilets jaunes movement against carbon taxes under Professor Ali Mirsepassi

• Education, New York University, Harvard

  Harvard Graduate School of Education
  Concentration: Power, Justice, Identity in Education
  Activities: Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard, HGSE Students for Climate Justice, Climate Leaders Cohort, Graduate Student Union
  Coursework in Liberatory Pedagogy, Environmental and Education Law at Graduate School of Design and Harvard Law School

  New York University,Gallatin School of Individualized Study       
  Individualized Major: Politics and Economics of Inequality 
  Minor: Spanish
  Rationale: Structures of (In)justice: Capitalism and Environmental Issues
  Coursework in Environmental Justice, Human Rights, International Law, Policy, Economics, Post-Colonial Literature

• Publications

  Journal: Health and Place
  Title: Neighborhood variation in childhood asthma emergency department visit rates in Austin, Texas is associated with tenant-reported housing conditions.
  Corresponding Author: Associate Professor Adam L. Haber
  Co-Authors: Zichuan Li, M.S.; Rebecca A. Zarate; Sophia S. Carryl; Alexia Leclercq; Susan Balcer-Whaley; Darlene Bhavnani; Sarah E. Chambliss; Elizabeth J. Mueller; Elizabeth Samuels; Elizabeth Matsui
  Manuscript Number: JHAP-D-25-02805

  Bahamón-Pinzón D, Siegel HG, Leclercq A, Banner J, Pinon C, Almanza S, Haragan K, Mullins L, Pagán F, Cardenas M, Siddiqui N, Montoya D. Identifying impacts and causes of drinking water quality issues through community-based participatory research in a suburban neighborhood in Texas: The case of Austin’s Colony. PLOS Water. In review: PWAT-D-25-00135.

  Leclercq, Herrera, and Almanza “Demolition: The Legacy of displacement and gentrification in East Austin Continues.” PODER, Feb 2022.

  Leclercq, Almanza, and Herrera, “Reaching Vulnerable Population in East Austin” Austin Public Health, 31 October 2020. 

  Almanza, et al. “Comparative Analyses of Low-Income Housing Along the East Riverside Corridor Master Plan 2019.” Humanities Institute at the University of Texas at Austin Community, 2019.

  Leclercq "Beneath the Gilets Jaunes: Disruption Power Structures or Reinforcing the Far-Right Rhetoric?" Senior thesis, NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Studies, May 2020.