Courtney Humphries

Living in a paved world Asphalt is the paver of paradise and our constant companion. How did it become the built world’s connective tissue?

I’ve been thinking about the materials we live with, where they come from, and how they transform us and the larger world. My latest Substack post is a meditation on asphalt as physical and social connective tissue. open.substack.com/pub/courtney...

"Infrastructure bathing" Forest bathing is a popular way to improve well-being by connecting with nature. Can we feel this connection right where we are, in the built environment?

Forest bathing is a popular way to improve well-being by connecting with nature. Can we feel this connection right where we are, in the built environment? My latest essay for The Nature We Make on Substack. open.substack.com/pub/courtney...

"Infrastructure bathing" Forest bathing is a popular way to improve well-being by connecting with nature. Can we feel this connection right where we are, in the built environment?

https://open.substack.com/pub/courtneyhumphries/p/infrastructure-bathing?r=2bb7r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

“The Coolest Spot in Paradise.” Space savers standing by in Dorchester. #boston #snow #streetscape

I appreciate this line from @mbolotnikova.bsky.social: “Our built environment is the physical container for our lives, shaping our entire daily existence and our interactions with our families and communities.” The beauty, quality, and materiality of the day-to-day built environment matters.

Carbon, green and gray How does the urban environment really work?

#cities #nature #climatechange #urbanplanning #environment

https://substack.com/home/post/p-182747654

Welcome to The Nature We Make A publication about nature in cities and cities as nature

Not just nature in cities, but cities as nature. Here is my introductory post, with more to follow soon: https://substack.com/@courtneyhumphries/p-183551521 . If this sounds of interest, please consider subscribing!

The Nature We Make Logo with link: substack.tnwm.net.

I’m launching a new Substack newsletter, The Nature We Make, https://substack.tnwm.net . It's grown out of many years studying and writing about urban nature, which has convinced me that we need spaces to encourage connection to the natural world, even within the built environment.

Morrissey Blvd. floods multiple times a year. It's a symptom of a statewide problem. The Dorchester parkway, one of Boston’s starkest examples of climate impacts, is inundated multiple times a year.

“The 2030s are going to be a tough time for Boston.” apps.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/metr... @erinmdouglas23.bsky.social — and @cehumphries.bsky.social — on "sunny-day flooding" in Boston and ongoing failures to address it. #WhenTheFloodsCome

To make cities better, we need to see them as part of nature and steward our built infrastructure the way we do the green stuff, I argue in this essay for ⁦@BostonGlobeMag
⁩ #cities #infrastructure #nature #ecology #boston

Thank you to @NepRWA for hosting me as speaker at its annual meeting tonight! It was truly energizing to meet so many people working on #ecosystem health and #ClimateResilience in this region.

Even before the recent Twitter drama, I was on Mastodon and can be found at @courtney@daedal.io. I hope to see you there!

It's nice to see my earlier @GlobeIdeas story discussed in this piece on the "glassification" of #cities in @Poynter. This is an ongoing issue even as cities step up their commitments to #sustainability and #resilience.

Looking forward to being part of this virtual discussion about sea level rise in Boston later today! Register here

An innovative project in Boston Harbor uses inexpensive vegetation mats for flood protection. I do wish articles like these clarified the difference between protecting from waves/surge and rising sea levels/tides. We need multiple strategies.

I’m excited to graduate with my #PhD from UMass Boston, and honored to be Graduate Commencement Speaker today!

Spotted on this beautiful day in Boston Common: the annual #Boston #fishweir project, a reminder that this land was once tidelands and stewarded for its natural resources.

A great story by ⁦@zteirstein⁩ looking at the complex tradeoffs involved in pursuing cleaner energy.

With community input, a revitalization project along the Malden River strives to mix waterfront recreation and industry. by @bytimlogan

Fascinating story about restoring urban rivers by rebuilding their microbe-rich “guts,” by ⁦@egies⁩.

Excited to be part of this fabulous virtual panel tonight talking about coastal adaptation in Boston and beyond.

Dissertation defended!!! #PhDone

Most cities hoping to upgrade infrastructure “have little to no information about how climate change will worsen future storms.” By ⁦@lesommer⁩

I’ve been wanting to see a story about the complexities of this project and why innovative #climate #adaptation strategies are so hard to do in practice, thanks @zteirstein!

How wastewater epidemiology went from being the butt of poop jokes to a beacon in the #COVID pandemic: my feature on @BiobotAnalytics for @BostonGlobeMag

“The lion’s share of U.S. flood risk does not stem from the changing nature of storms and seas, but instead from our decisions about where to build and where to live.” Great story by ⁦@jake_bittle⁩

My feature story in @BostonGlobeMag takes a look at the story behind the COVID wastewater data you've been following, and the company trying to make sewage a "pillar of public health."

Hey @EversourceMA what’s up with the weekly power outages in Jones Hill #Dorchester? I’m on deadline! #waswriting

This proposal is not gonna happen for many reasons, but there's actually an important discussion to have about adding land to coastal cities.

Where to even start with this?