Dr. Allison Lassiter

Biography

Allison Lassiter is an Associate Professor in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on transformative methods for managing urban water resources in the context of climate change, employing watershed-based approaches and 'smart water' technologies. She implements interdisciplinary and mixed-methods studies that draw from economics, remote sensing, hydrology, systems engineering, and city planning. Currently, her work evaluates the threats posed by sea level rise to drinking water systems, as well as prospective adaptation alternatives and tools for improving their implementation. In addition to conducting research, Allison participates in national-level discussions on water management, contributing to initiatives such as the U.S. EPA's Creating Water Resilient Utilities workgroup and the Aspen Institute-Duke Nicholas School of the Environment Water Forum. Her work has a growing global focus, exemplified by her involvement in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) discussions. She is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and has also received funding from organizations such as Microsoft Group, the Pennsylvania Sea Grant, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Prior to her role at Penn, Allison earned a BS in Computational Biology from Cornell, a Master’s in City Planning from MIT, and a PhD in Environmental Planning from UC Berkeley, alongside postdoctoral research as an Economics fellow at Monash University in Australia.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards