My essays and public discussions highlight ideas about the urban environment and how we interact and connect with nature in an unnatural world.

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Reaffirming environmental justice

I spoke at First Parish Dorchester about my experiences teaching urban environmental justice in 2025 and about how we can respond when terms like “environmental justice” are under attack.

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Jane Jacobs and Climate Readiness in Boston

I recently spoke at a conference on March 29 at Boston College (home of the Jane Jacobs Papers) that considers what Jacobs’ ideas can offer the City of Boston as it prepares for climate change.

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UMass Boston Commencement Remarks

As the Graduate Student Speaker at the University of Massachusetts Graduate Commencement Ceremony on May 27, 2022, I discussed how my research on Boston’s waterfront helped me to connect more to my community, my city, and my natural environment.

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Rising Seas: Planning for the Future

I participate in an interdisciplinary panel discussion that explores sea level rise and its implications for coastal areas, including cities like Boston.

John F. Kennedy Library Forum

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Living on Earth: Boston’s Rising Tides

Boston Harbor is subject to tides as large as 12 feet, and most of its original tidal flats were filled in the late 1800s. As sea level rises, storm surges combined with high tide are putting more and more of downtown Boston at risk of flooding. Journalist Courtney Humphries and Host Steve Curwood discuss.

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