Dr. Katherine Lieberknecht

Biography

Katherine Lieberknecht is an Associate Professor and Graduate Advisor in the Community & Regional Planning program at the School of Architecture, University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on environmental planning with an emphasis on equity, climate planning, green infrastructure planning, and water resources planning. She teaches courses on sustainable land use planning, water resources planning, and urban ecology. Prior to joining the faculty, she worked in regional land conservation. Lieberknecht holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the College of William and Mary, a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University. She is the inaugural chair of Planet Texas 2050, UT Austin's grand challenge research program, and continues to serve on its leadership team. She is also a faculty lead for the Texas Metro Observatory and co-lead for the Planet Texas 2050 Flagship Project on Equitable Regenerative Cities for a Post-Carbon Future. Additionally, she serves in leadership roles for externally funded projects, including the National Science Foundation's Smart Connected Communities project aimed at community-led climate adaptation in Dove Springs, Austin, Texas, and the Department of Energy-funded Southeast Texas Urban Integrated Field Laboratory. Recent projects include contributions to a NOAA-funded collaboration with UT Austin EcoRise, a green jobs study for the City of Austin, and participation in the 2021 CHCI Global Humanities Institute on Climate Justice Problems at Scale. She was a UT Austin Humanities Institute Fellow from 2020 to 2022 and received the Outstanding Service Award and Outstanding Teacher (Lecture) awards from UT Austin's School of Architecture.

Research Interests