Katherine Laycock is a Research Associate with OCSDNet, based in Waterloo,

Canada and Manila, Philippines. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of

Waterloo, School of Planning and is a recipient of a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship.

Previously, Katherine earned a MSc degree in Capacity Development & Extension and

International Development Studies from the University of Guelph where she investigated

community cohesion, vulnerability, and capacity building following natural disaster.

Katherine will be a visiting researcher for the Jesse M. Robredo Institute of Governance at

De La Salle University, Philippines in 2016 and has previously worked on research projects

for Coastal Cities at Risk (CCaR) and the United Nations University—Institute for Water,

Environment and Health (UNU-IWEH). She also completed a six-month, CIDA-funded

internship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and was an Armed Conflicts Report Intern for Project

Ploughshares in Waterloo. Her current research seeks to identify systemic barriers in local

information and communication mechanisms so as to advance environmental planning for

climate change adaptation in complex urban areas in the Philippines. More specifically, she

is investigating efficient communication between civil society organizations, development

organizations, and local government structures to understand how they interpret and

disseminate climate change needs and apply available knowledge and collaborations to

adaptation practices within their environments.