Navigating Your Career Journey Alumni Panel
Join us for a career panel focused on the professional journey of Boston University alumni who are working on urban environmental issues across sectors. Come learn from their experiences, better understand the landscape of opportunities, and ask questions. More information about the panelists is included below!
This panel is presented by BU URBAN (Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health), the Biogeoscience Program, the BU Biology Department, the BU Earth & Environment Department, and the BU Department of Environmental Health.
Following the panel discussion, we would love for you to join us for an URBAN Social at the BU Pub!
Thursday, November 13, 2025
Navigating Your Career Journey Alumni Panel: 3:00-4:00pm, 24 Cummington Mall (LSE) Room 103 (w/option to attend virtually)
URBAN Social: 4:15-5:30pm, the BU Pub at 225 Bay State Road
Please RSVP here by November 7, 2025.
Panelists:
Dr. Lindsey Butler, PhD, MSc
Executive Director
Boston Green Ribbon Commission
Dr. Lindsey Butler, PhD, MSc is an environmental epidemiologist and climate leader specializing in the intersection of climate change and human health. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Boston Green Ribbon Commission, a non-profit that convenes Boston’s most influential institutions to accelerate the city’s climate action. She has held multiple climate focused roles in the public and private sector.
She led Climate and Health Resilience at Blue Cross Blue Shield MA, who committed to carbon neutral and zero waste by 2030 and developed their first ever environmental justice community grant program under her leadership. She was the Deputy Chief of Policy for the City of Boston during the passage of the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance 2.0 (BERDO). She holds a PhD and Masters of Science in environmental health from the Boston University School of Public Health and an undergraduate degree in environmental science from Simmons University. She also serves on the faculty of the School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Dr. Butler is an environmental optimist, dedicated to harnessing the power of the private sector to advance climate action and protect human health and views sustainability programs as a strategic business advantage, not a cost center.
With a passion for science communication, she is currently penning a series of children’s books on solutions to the climate crisis.
Dr. Stephen Decina, PhD
Executive Director of the Office of the Vice Provost for Climate
University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Stephen Decina is the Executive Director of the Office of the Vice Provost for Climate, or Penn Climate, the University of Pennsylvania’s whole-of-campus initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. Before coming to Penn, Dr. Decina served in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. In this role, he led collaborative environmental initiatives and negotiations across the G7 and G20 and the United Nations Environment Program, represented the United States on the United Nations International Resource Panel, helped to develop the Cities Forward Initiative, and led efforts to combat wildlife trafficking across the Western Hemisphere, Middle East, North Africa, and maritime sphere. He was previously at the Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, where he worked to improve childhood air quality exposure in vulnerable communities. He has also consulted for the United Nations Foundation Clean Cooking Alliance as an analyst and educator on household energy standards.
Dr. Decina received a PhD in biology with a specialization in biogeosciences from Boston University, studying patterns of urban biogeochemical cycling, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at Berkeley, where he analyzed urban air pollution through patterns and sources of emissions. He taught science for over a decade in Newark, New Jersey and New York City and co-founded a science camp for children in foster care with colleagues in Fairbanks, Alaska. In his spare time, Dr. Decina advocates for small-scale Italian winemakers who practice regenerative agriculture and minimal intervention to steward the land, provide for their communities, and make some of the world’s best wine.
Dr. Conor Gately, PhD, MA
Senior Land Use and Transportation Analyst
Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Conor Gately is a Senior Land Use and Transportation Analyst at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the regional planning agency for the greater Boston metropolitan area. His work on the Research team of the DataServices department aims to improve understanding of the interactions between land use and transportation systems across the region, with a focus on mobility, transit accessibility, and travel mode choice. His interests also include the public health impacts of vehicle air pollution and the contribution of climate change to air quality and other health indicators. He is also the lead analyst producing MAPC’s long-term demographic forecasts of population, households, and employment across the region. In his position at MAPC he collaborates extensively with a variety of local and state agencies, including MassDOT, EOHLC, CTPS and the City of Boston. Conor holds a Ph.D. in Geography and Environment from Boston University, and an M.A. and a B.A. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Wesleyan University. His doctoral research focused on emissions from the transportation sector, interactions between the built environment and travel behavior, and the impact of traffic congestion on air pollutant emissions.
Please RSVP here by November 7, 2025.