The LOEB Fellowship

Pallavi Kalia Mande, founder and director of Tamraparni.org has been involved with water centric environmental restoration work in the Boston metropolitan area for the last two decades. She formulated the Blue Cities Initiative at the Charles River Watershed Association in 2008, which has grown into a major program area that includes planning, design, and implementation of green infrastructure projects within the Charles watershed and beyond. In addition to reviewing major development projects within the watershed, she directed the organization’s research and advocacy on nature-based solutions for climate adaptation. As the director of Watershed Resilience in 2019, she was deeply involved in public education and outreach on urban restoration through engaging a variety of stakeholders ranging from state and local public agencies, institutions, advocacy groups and the resident community at large.

In 2021, Pallavi joined Urban Idea Lab, as a Climate Resilience and Sustainable Design lead. Among other projects she is involved in the I-90 Interchange Project in Allston, Unified Vision for Downtown Providence, and Green Line Transformation. In addition, she serves as a conservation commissioner in Brookline, co-chair of the Open Space Planning Committee, and member of the Zoning By-law Sub-Committee. Pallavi also serves as the co-chair for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commission and as a board member of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate.

Pallavi received her bachelor’s degree in architecture in India, a master’s in philosophy in environment and development at Cambridge University in England and a master’s in architecture and urban design at Washington University in St. Louis. In 2016 she was selected to be a Loeb fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She frequently serves as a design critic and studio instructor at the GSD and design juror at the School of Architecture at Northeastern University.