Mike is a PhD Student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning studying City Design and Development. Affiliated with the Center for Advanced Urbanism, he applies design and systems thinking to the challenges of climate change adaptation. As a landscape architect and a Conservation Commissioner for the City of Boston, his experience ranges from local public-private partnerships to regional policy analysis and landscape-scale resiliency. Mike’s research focuses on how governance institutions approach planning under risk and uncertainty to engage in the complexities of our cities’ energy, environment, and open space infrastructures.

Formerly a Senior Designer at Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates in Brooklyn, Mike contributed to numerous competitions and proposals, including its winning entries for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St Louis, MO and Waller Creek in Austin, TX. Most recently he worked as a project manager on the Port Lands Acceleration Initiative for the Lower Don Lands in Toronto, ON and medium-term post-Sandy coastal protection plans for the Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency in New York City, NY.