LSU’s Kristen Mauch takes lead in water literacy education for Louisiana
September 27, 2024
An LSU student works on a project in an School of Architecture class.
LSU's Kristen Mauch is passionate about equipping the next generation with the knowledge and skills to address Louisiana’s unique environmental challenges.
Kristen Mauch
“We live in a place inherently affected by water,” Mauch says. “For the sake of the future of Louisiana and other coastal communities, we need to understand water.”
A licensed architect in Louisiana, Kristen Mauch is associate dean of student services for the LSU College of Art & Design and an associate professor of practice in the LSU School of Architecture. She was awarded a 2024 Alumni Association LSU Faculty Excellence Award, for her dedication to LSU students.
She is also a founding member of Ripple Effect Water Literacy Project, an environmental education nonprofit that builds water literacy through in-school instruction. Mauch now serves as Ripple Effect’s Director of Operations and Strategic Partnerships. Her research focuses on design pedagogy and beginning design education.
Water literacy, or the culmination of water-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors, is a relatively new field of study with growing importance for sustainable water management and social behaviors.
The Ripple Effect Water Literacy Project, supported by the National Academy of Sciences Gulf Research Program, aims to “empower teachers on the front lines of environmental change.”
“All students in K-12 classrooms deserve frequent opportunities to learn about local water issues while engaging in ambitious, inquiry-based science learning. These experiences help build a flexible, systemic understanding of the climate-related challenges that are impacting – and will continue to impact – their lives.”
LSU architecture students' design projects for coastal environments.
LSU architecture students' design projects for coastal environments.
LSU architecture students' design projects for coastal environments.
Learn about the LSU School of Architecture, designing for the future
Ripple Effect works with K-12 teachers in New Orleans to help educate Louisiana youth about issues that will likely directly impact them in their lifetimes: stormwater flooding, coastal land loss, sustainability, and environmental changes.
“During a workshop about stormwater flooding with urban New Orleans fourth graders, one student asked, ‘Why hasn’t anyone told us this before?’” Mauch said. “Young students understand that hurricanes impact Louisiana; their family members have experienced natural disasters.”
Louisiana youth deserve to be educated about water, she argues. Water literacy is their right.
Educating young people, including aspiring architects in the LSU School of Architecture, is part of Mauch’s goal to prepare the next generation of designers for the future.
“These students are future architects and urban planners,” she explains. “They are the ones who will be designing our cities, who will be using innovative storm-resistant techniques. They are the ones who will be building our homes and schools, preparing for the future.”
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