J Coley, PhD (they/them) is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Lender Center for Social Justice at Syracuse University.  As an urban sociologist and public scholar, their research examines the lived experiences of Black and Brown people experiencing gentrification and other housing market pressures. J's current program of research uses qualitative methods to address how race informs experiences of neighborhood change in historically Black neighborhoods in mid-sized cities. 

J has been quoted in several recent NYT pieces following the mass shooting at the Tops Supermarket on the East Side of Buffalo, New York. Further, they are a co-creator of the #BuffaloSyllabus, a collection of works about the historical roots and contemporary implications of racism in Buffalo. J's dissertation, “Gentrification and Displacement in the American Rustbelt: A Qualitative Study of Neighborhood Change and Experience,” is a qualitative examination into the lives of people affected by gentrification and displacement on the East Side of Buffalo.