Climate change creates a new imperative for urban areas to adapt to shifting environmental conditions and risks, but our ability to respond to climate change is shaped by the infrastructural, social, and political systems of the past. My work focuses on the interdisciplinary study of urban environmental governance to better understand this context, particularly the intersection between the historical development of cities, environmental management, and planning for current and future climate change. My research has examined how laws, regulations, and policies around shoreline development in tidelands impact planning for sea level rise in Boston. I am also interested in how urban planning strategies can be more adaptable and equitable.

In addition to being an interdisciplinary researcher, I am also an award-winning journalist and science writer, and a former Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. I have written about numerous topics—including urban planning, environmental science, biology, neuroscience, health, and architecture—for a variety of publications, including the Boston Globe, Nature, Science, Technology Review, Harvard Magazine, Nautilus, and the Atlantic. Public communication continues to be critical to my work and my teaching. Through writing and teaching, my goal is to help people see and understand everyday environments in new ways