Krista Neilson

Krista Neilson has over five years of professional and academic experience in urban planning in cities around the country. Ms. Neilson began her planning career as an intern for North Clackamas Parks & Recreation District (NCPRD) while attending graduate school at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. At NCPRD, she assisted with planning and obtaining funding for a six-mile pedestrian and bicycle trail along a former streetcar right-of-way. The trail is an essential link in the Portland region’s extensive greenspace network.

Following graduate school, Ms. Neilson moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where she worked for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission. There she was involved in several projects aimed at managing the City’s explosive growth – an overall growth framework for the City, development of an environmental policy, plans for stations along the City’s first light rail line, and several revisions to the zoning ordinance.

In August, 2006, Ms. Neilson broadened her planning experience with a move to New Orleans, Louisiana. As a Project Planner for N-Y Associates, a Metairie-based engineering, architecture and planning consulting firm, Ms. Neilson became involved in planning for the region’s recovery. She headed up a master plan to improve the physical environment of the New Orleans Medical District, the heart of the region’s biosciences and healthcare industry, as well as a vision plan for the recovery of hard-hit Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Through these projects Ms. Neilson became interested in seeing plans through to implementation, which lead to her participation in the CUREx Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship Program.

Krista Neilson has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies and Political Science from St. Lawrence University and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from Portland State University. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Louisiana Chapter of the American Planning Association.