Luciana’s research engages debates on social and environmental justice, water governance, and decolonial planning. She examines the tensions between urbanization processes and Indigenous riverine lifeways in urban Amazonia, with particular attention to how the knowledges embedded in Indigenous everyday practices can challenge and expand conventional planning frameworks.

Her work draws on participatory and arts-based approaches to research and planning as ways of democratizing knowledge production, supporting inclusive and place-based processes, and broadening participation in decision-making.

During her master’s training at the University of Pittsburgh, Luciana worked as a Graduate Student Researcher at the Ford Institute for Human Security, where she conducted research on inequalities in water access and affordability across communities in the United States and Latin America, combining policy analysis, qualitative research, and collaboration with city officials, public utilities, and community organizations.