Kristen E. Gaynor Speaks at SUNY Oneonta Meteorology Caputo Banquet

Kristen E. Gaynor is a planner in the firm’s Clifton Park office. She specializes in urban and regional planning, land planning, community/economic development, multi-modal transportation systems, trail design, public participation strategies, complete streets, resiliency planning, form-based code, SEQRA and NEPA. She has received her bachelor's degree in meteorology with a minor in geography from SUNY Oneonta and her master's degree in regional planning from SUNY Albany.

The annual SUNY Oneonta Meteorology Caputo Banquet is hosted by the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department for Meteorology majors and enthusiasts. Each year the department presents the Robert W. Caputo ‘84 Scholarship to a junior or senior meteorology major. Additionally, the department invites a graduate of the meteorology program back to campus to serve as the keynote speaker at the banquet. Kristen was selected by Dr. Jerome Blechman, her former undergraduate academic advisor, to speak at this year’s banquet. She shared a presentation with the banquet attendees that discussed her time as an undergraduate at SUNY Oneonta (meteorology major and geography minor) and her time as a graduate student at SUNY Albany (planning). Kristen discussed what an average day in the life of a planner is like and offered some advice and lessons learned pertaining to both personal and professional experience. Bringing her professional studies full circle, she was able to discuss how the American Planning Association is working alongside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop online tools to help create more informed and therefore more resilient communities.