Then the water is discharged into a water body such as the Charles River or Boston Harbor.īut gray infrastructure is no match for the erosive force of nature. It’s called gray infrastructure,” England says. “The historic approach to stormwater is to put it in a catch basin and put it in a pipe. She says lower income urban areas have fewer trees and more hardscape-structures made of concrete, asphalt and metal. “Boston’s no different from any other major city,” says England, who resides in Hyde Park. In her new role at City Hall, England will reactivate a green infrastructure working group she started at BWSC and assess the needs of residents of Chinatown, East Boston, Mattapan and Roxbury for improved flood control, air quality and tree canopies. Most recently she was employed as a statewide planner for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. “I said, ‘Fine, I’ll go back and get my technical stuff,’” she says.Īfter earning her master’s degree in environmental studies and working as a consultant for a few years, England went to work for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC). “I had a lot of really great opportunities at Northeastern,” says England, who came to the Boston campus from a smaller college her sophomore year.Īfter graduation, an internship with the Emerald Necklace Conservancy morphed into a full-time job.Įngland says she loved working on drainage and ecology issues at the conservancy, but it seemed every time she proposed a solution to a problem someone pointed out she had no technical expertise in the area. She says it was a time when many in the U.S. ![]() Environmental Program and learned what other countries were doing to mitigate the impact of climate change. The woman who insists she did not hear the word “stormwater” until she went to college ended up in the desert exploring food propagation as part of a Dialogues of Civilization exchange in Egypt.Įngland also participated in a Dialogues of Civilization exchange in Geneva, Switzerland, where she worked with the U.N. Wu says that she is excited for England’s “vision and leadership,” saying in a press release that these qualities are especially important as Boston faces rising sea levels and temperatures.Įngland says her interest in environmental policy was piqued when she took a class on the science behind climate change at Northeastern. Photos by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University Kate England, Boston’s first Green Infrastructure Director. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University Kate England, Boston’s inaugural Green Infrastructure Director. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University Stormwater bricks are part of a permeable pavement system that prevents runoff. Tree planting is a green strategy at Boston City Hall. It’s increasingly common for cities to embed green infrastructure personnel in their water and sewer departments, but appointing a green infrastructure director to a key city role “is really unique and special,” she says. “It shows (green infrastructure) is not just a small part of what we do” but an integral part of Boston’s approach to building and maintaining stormwater systems, roads, sidewalks, parks and other urban spaces, England says. The creation of a green infrastructure director for the city of Boston is part of Wu’s commitment to a Green New Deal, according to a press release from the mayor’s office. ![]() “Green infrastructure goes hand in hand with climate resilience,” says England, who graduated from Northeastern in 2008 with majors in political science and international affairs. The appointment announced recently by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu will give England a leading role in building and maintaining ecologically friendly and sustainable approaches to stormwater diversion and to the eradication of urban “heat islands” that are more prevalent in low-income neighborhoods. Northeastern University graduate Kate England is making environmental history as the city of Boston’s first director of green infrastructure.
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