Joe Christo is the Managing Director of the Stone Living Lab. The Stone Living Lab, launched in 2020, is an innovative and collaborative initiative for testing and scaling up nature-based approaches to climate adaptation, coastal resilience, and ecological restoration in the high-energy environment of Boston Harbor. It engages scientists and the community in research, education, and the promotion of equity and environmental justice.
The Lab is a partnership between Boston Harbor Now, UMass Boston’s School for the Environment, the City of Boston, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the National Park Service, and the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation.
Prior to joining the Lab, Joe served as the Senior Resilience and Waterfront Planner for the Boston Planning and Development Agency, and launched equitable infrastructure and economic mobility programs as a Program Director at the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, the City’s civic innovation team.
Previously, Joe spent seven years working on community resilience projects for the City of New York. Those projects included working with community organizations to better engage them in the city’s workforce development programs; building and launching operations at ten new career centers throughout the five boroughs at public libraries, community organizations, and community colleges; and leading environmental assessment operations for the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations following Hurricane Sandy. Joe also previously served as the Communications Director for the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy in Boston.
Joe has a Master’s degree in Community Planning from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Political Science from Northeastern University.