Alaina is a doctoral candidate concentrating on sustainability and resilience in Northeastern’s school of Public Policy and Urban Affairs. She earned her honours B.A. in agricultural and environmental International Development Studies at McGill University, and a MSc with Distinction in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics. In these programs, Alaina learned and applied a variety of methods and theoretical frameworks, primarily in the disciplines of geography, economics, human rights, environmental science, and law.
Since completing her undergraduate degree, Alaina has worked on climate and energy policy across the spectrum from research to advocacy to implementation, recently as the Project Manager for the Clean Energy Valuation group at E4TheFuture, and as a Barr Foundation Climate Policy CAP Fellow in Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu’s office in summer 2021. Alaina’s research interests focus on climate policy analysis, particularly in the energy and agriculture sectors, and equity/resilience implications thereof. She is particularly proud that her work has earned her the title of “boffin”.
Alaina has lived and worked around the world in Albany, NY; Raleigh, NC; Montreal, QC; Kampala, Uganda; London, England; Pittsburgh, PA; and currently Boston, MA. When she isn’t working on climate policy research, Alaina reads about beekeeping, volunteers for women’s health organizations, and works toward her dream of growing a successful indoor herb garden.