Conor Gately, PhD

Department: Data Services – Research
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 617-933-0776

Biography:

Conor joined MAPC’s Data Services Department in September 2019. His research 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. Conor’s work supports the scenario planning and regional forecasting efforts of MetroCommon 2050 as well as other short- and long-term transportation planning studies.

Prior to joining MAPC, Conor worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University and Boston University, where he developed urban greenhouse gas monitoring systems. His work integrated atmospheric measurements, high-resolution emission inventories, and atmospheric transport modeling to detect trends in urban emissions. He has collaborated extensively with city, state, and federal government stakeholders across the U.S., including CTPS and the City of Boston, with a focus on developing data solutions to support climate action plans at urban and regional scales. 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. Prior to moving to Boston in 2009 to begin his doctorate, he worked for The Blacksmith Institute, a non-profit organization in New York City dedicated to the environmental remediation of polluted sites in developing countries.

Conor holds a Ph.D. in Geography and Environment from Boston University. He also holds an M.A. and a B.A. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Wesleyan University, where he studied the geochemistry of hydrothermal systems and their impacts on local groundwater.

Areas of expertise: Spatial data analytics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), transportation modeling, greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions, energy and technology policy analysis.