Background
Taylor Davey is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy with a teaching focus in the Sustainable Communities program. She received a PhD in Urban Studies & Planning from Harvard University in 2024.
Davey’s research explores urban climate action and governance, with a focus on the politics of climate planning and challenges of implementing short-term action that supports long-term transition pathways. Recent work includes studies of international programs to standardize local-level carbon accounting, which have been developed to build broader confidence in the carbon impacts of local action and support accountability of local actors to international goals. This research has also examined the adoption of carbon accounting standards in novel budgeting frameworks and modelling tools to inform the allocation of municipal resources. Davey’s focus is on how new international standards are negotiated on the ground and come to be informed by both local stakeholder interests and situated political dynamics. This work highlights the need for alternative forms of knowledge and values-based approaches to shape local priorities, investments, and action as a complement to these emerging data-based practices. Other interests include regional food systems planning, circular economy innovations with a particular interest in waste-to-energy technologies, and municipal policy opportunities to advance decommissioning of natural gas grids. Recent and forthcoming articles feature in publications such as Urban Studies, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, and Environment and Planning E.
Previously, Davey taught as a lecturer at Northeastern University in the urban planning program and was a visiting assistant professor at Colgate University for the 2024–25 academic year. Her teaching interests include topics on climate policy, environmental politics, and sustainable planning at the local and regional scale.
Education
PhD, Harvard University
Teaching Interests
- climate policy
- environmental politics
- sustainable planning at the local and regional scale