Reilly Bergin Wilson is a doctoral candidate in the Environmental Psychology program at the CUNY Graduate Center, and a research associate at both the Public Space Research Group and the Children’s Environments Research Group in the Center for Human Environments. Reilly holds a Masters by Research in Geography from the University of Leeds, U.K., and an Honors B.A. in Geography and Urban Studies from Temple University, Philadelphia. She is a former National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, US-UK Fulbright Fellow, and American Councils Title VIII Combined Research and Language Training Fellow.

Her dissertation is based on field research conducted in Bihać, Bosnia, and focuses on children’s experiences and expectations of mobility in public space within the context of significant population flux. Her previous research projects have concentrated on the historical production of adventure playgrounds in New York City and London, using archive documents to explore the ways in which discourses about childhood, race, and class impact the social construction of these spaces.

In addition to her own research, Reilly is a co-founder and working board member of Play:groundNYC Inc., a New York City non-profit organization that produces playworker-supported environments for children’s play, including an adventure playground on Governors Island and in public spaces across the city. She also serves as an advisor on the Trust for Public Land’s Heat Response project, a multi-year creative action response to urban heat islands in Philadelphia.