Second-year student Emma Knobloch has received the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning’s (ACSP) Marsha Ritzdorf Award (FWIG) for the Best Student Work on Diversity, Social Justice and the Role of Women in Planning. Her research paper, “Visible Contributions of Women to Climate Solutions,” was nominated by SPPA faculty member Dr. Phuong Nguyen.
The award, selected from nationwide applicants, “recognizes superior scholarship reflecting concern with making communities better for women, people of color and/or the disadvantaged.” Emma says, “This project truly reflects my identity as a researcher passionate about using mathematics to uncover empirical patterns within complex social systems. Seeing a project I deeply loved and to which I dedicated significant effort being embraced and valued by others has been incredibly rewarding.”
Her research details historical components of the disparities faced by women in scientific and engineering fields. It examines publications produced by female scientists who have contributed to climate solutions through their secondary subfields, including environmental engineering, urban and regional planning, environmental science, geology, and oceanography. Additionally, the paper evaluates the impact of the 1980 National Science Foundation Science and Technology Equal Opportunity Act on increasing public awareness of women’s contributions and participation in these fields. The results of an interrupted time series regression design showed an overall upward trend of increasing participation by women in these fields.
Emma plans to continue this line of research to identify the most effective policies for increasing female participation in STEM and to extend my definition of gender to be more inclusive of the gender spectrum that exists in our society. “My goal is to develop evidence-based recommendations that drive meaningful change in funding and support for women and non-binary researchers in academia.”
In her urban and regional planning master’s studies, Emma is specializing in land use and environmental planning. Her bachelor’s degree is in Mathematics and Computer Science from New York University. With expertise in data analysis, writing, and community building, she actively contributes to the EPA's Superfund project, collaborating with her advisor, Dr. Scott Spak, to tackle complex environmental challenges. Additionally, she champions FEMA's Whole Community initiative through her internship at Iowa's Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. In these roles, she is dedicated to advocating for historically marginalized groups, using her planning background to develop actionable recommendations that address and transform deeply entrenched systems and institutions.
Emma has been invited to accept her award as well as present her paper at the ACSP conference which will be held in Seattle, WA, in November.