Graduate School
Clark University

Undergraduate School
Williams College

Mentor
Carol Burns, Principal, Taylor Burns Architects and Rappaport Institute Advisory Board Member

Agency
City of Boston, Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics and Boston Parks Department

Supervisor
Barbara Berke, Senior Advisor to the Mayor

Description of Fellowship
As a Rappaport Doctoral Public Policy Fellow, Katherine worked with Energy and Environmental Services, Parks Department, Boston Urban Forest Coalition (BUFC), Department of Neighborhood Development (DND), and the Bowdoin-Geneva Neighborhood Response Team (NRT) to strengthen Boston’s 100,000 trees initiative. The governance of Boston’s urban forest heavily relies upon the coordinated efforts of public, private, and civic sectors, and emerging data visualization technologies have the potential to facilitate data-driven governance through cross-sector partnerships. Katherine’s summer work recommended ways for Energy and Environmental Services and the Parks Department to establish an integrated data management system that enables greater knowledge and governing capacity by BUFC partners. Her work also sought ways to promote community-based approaches to tree planting in city neighborhoods.