Teaching Team
Maryam Hosseini (Instructor)
Office Hours: Wednesdays 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM (Wurster, 406a)
Hi everyone! I’m Maryam Hosseini (she/her), and I’m an Assistant Professor in the Department of City & Regional Planning. My research primarily explores how the design of the built environment influences how people use and experience cities, with a focus on pedestrian mobility, urban accessibility, and walkability. I've developed various open-source tools, such as Tile2Net, the first open-source tool for creating geo-referenced pedestrian networks from aerial imagery.
Outside of work, I enjoy painting with watercolors, reading comic books, playing video games, and watching tech YouTube channels. I’m excited to see where your ideas will take you as you work through turning them into actual code and visualizations! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like to chat—whether it’s about the course, your projects, or even ideas beyond the class.
Johnny Esteban (GSI)
Office Hours: Mondays 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM (Wurster 222)
Hi there! I am Johnny Esteban (he/him) and I am a 2nd year PhD student in City and Regional Planning in DCRP. My primary research interest is the interrelated behavior of transportation and land use. I'm interested in understanding how transportation investments shape development patterns and, in turn, how land use decisions influence travel behavior. My latest interest has been investigating recent retail development patterns and their impact on consumer travel. I'm looking forward to using the tools and skills of 255 to inform your burning research questions, as well as my own! Outside of planning, I enjoy trying to get better at a myriad of hobbies. Some activities I currently enjoy are learning how to sew, play my banjo, attending language exchanges, reading, and being thrifty. I also love bikes - bikepacking, bike touring, gravel biking, mountain biking, and going to East Bay Bike Party! I volunteer at Biketopia Community Workshop on Tuesdays, so feel free to drop by if you need a tune up. I am looking forward to meeting you all and feel free to reach out if you want to chat or have any questions.
Monica Paz Parra (Reader)
Office Hours: Tuesdays 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Virtual, Schedule Here)
Hi y'all! I'm Monica Paz Parra (she/her) and I'm a second-year Master of Information Management and Systems (MIMS) student in the School of Information, specializing in UX Design, Human Computer Interaction, and Data Visualization. Some of my interests include how to use data and design to better convey complex information to users and how data visualization can be used to make more engaging user experiences.
Before Berkeley, I studied Statistics and Human Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, where I first learned about data and design. I came to Berkeley to learn more about how to combine my two interests into experiences that could benefit people, given the rise and importance of data literacy.
Outside of academics, you can find me always listening to music and going to concerts, working on my cooking skills, or playing Stardew Valley and Overcooked with my friends. I'm very excited to meet all of you and please feel free to reach out if you want to chat about the course or any shared interests!