Dr. Sternberg studies the relationship between planning theory and planning practice and has strong interests in the intellectual history of planning thought. Over the years, he has sought ways of applying planning ideas to many planning subfields. In varied articles over the years, he has suggested concepts for understanding urban forests, urban design, hazards and disaster mitigation, and several subfields of economic development planning, including tourism development and the creation of technology-intensive economic regions. He has an additional interest in the study of how radical ideologies affect perceptions of public affairs.

• Ph.D. (city and regional planning), Cornell University
• M.S. (development sociology and Southeast Asian studies), Cornell University
• B.A. (social sciences), Empire State College

Dr. Sternberg teaches graduate planning practicum, which has a different topic each semester. He and his students have worked with local governments and nonprofit groups to investigate topics ranging from heritage development and wind-energy planning to local industrial development and general community planning. He teaches our introductory graduate course “Physical, Environmental and Land Use Planning,” a graduate seminar “Advanced Planning Theory,” and the required course on MUP final projects. 

• Lucia Laurian, Ernest Sternberg, and Nadia Voigt da Mata, "The Transgressive Urban Forest: An Ecological Aesthetic for the Anthropocene," Journal of the American Planning Association, In press as of fall 2021.
• Hiroaki Hata and Ernest Sternberg, "Framing the Beholder's Visual Experience: An Investigation of the Perspectival Thinking for the Urban Design," Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, In press, published online Sept. 20, 2021.
• Ernest Sternberg, Jeff LiPuma, and Harry Warren, "Fast Flex: Strategic Design for Industrial Real Estate in the Age of Corporate Agility," Journal of General Management, 44:3, 2019, pp.138-145.
• George C. Lee and Ernest Sternberg, Bridges: Their Engineering and Planning, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2015.
• Ernest Sternberg and George C. Lee, “New York City’s Healthcare Transportation During Disaster: A Preparedness Framework for a Wicked Problem,” Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 25:2, 2009, pp. 95-107.
• Ernest Sternberg, “Classical Precariousness versus Modern Risk: Lessons in Prudence from the Battle of Salamis,” Humanitas 18:1-2, 2005, pp. 141-163.
• Ernest Sternberg, “Planning for Resilience in Hospital Internal Disaster,” Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 18:4, Oct.-Dec. 2003, pp. 291-300.
• Ernest Sternberg, "What Makes Buildings Catalytic? How Cultural Facilities Spur Surrounding Development," Journal of Architecture and Planning Research, 19:1, Spring 2002, pp. 30-43.