Kait Bieber
Senior Specialist, Climate Resilient Water Systems
Work
Areas of expertise:
Water systems and policy, environmental justice, water security/insecurity, groundwater, freshwater ecology, collaborative conservation, community resilience planning, decision support systems, water leadership and adaptive management
Description
Kait Bieber leads EDF’s Water Leadership Institute program planning in Arizona alongside partners. Kait’s work is interdisciplinary and systems focused, integrating technological knowledge, water policy, social equity and resilience strategies. The Water Leadership Institute places a strong focus on cross-sector collaboration, recognizes the importance of lived experience, and emphasizes community lead water planning and advocacy. Kait also collaborates on EDF and partners’ Groundwater Accounting Platform, open-access software used as an adaptive management, policy implementation, and decision-support tool in California. Overall, Kait’s work is centered around water security, ensuring communities have access to water, access to information, and access to leadership pathways.
Background
Kait joined EDF in 2024, starting as an intern while completing her master’s of science degree at University of Arizona. Upon completing her degree, she joined EDF as a senior specialist in 2025. She is a born and raised Arizonan, who has always known the magic and precarity of water in the desert. Kait began her career in water focusing on freshwater ecology and conducted research on the impact of climate change on benthic macro-invertebrates (water bugs). While attending a year-long research stay at the La Universidad Autónoma de México in Mexico City, Kait’s interest in systems led her to the more sociopolitical side of water management, learning the importance of historical context, relationships to water, and water access. Kait’s continued education focused on political ecology, collaborative governance, water systems and community engagement. Working on projects in collaboration with the Arizona Institute for Resilience and the Lincoln Instit ute on Land Use Policy, Kait has focused her work on policy impacts and implementation, collaborative conservation strategies, and the power of narrative and storytelling.
Education
- M.S., Water, Society, and Policy, University of Arizona
- Graduate Certificate in Collaborative Governance, University of Arizona
- B.S., Environmental Studies & Sustainability, Northern Arizona University
- B.A., Spanish, Northern Arizona University
Publications
Seay-Fleming, C., Brown, A., Gerlak, A.K., Bieber, K., Zuniga – Teran, A. & Sugg, Z. (2024) Engaging farmers in water governance in the Western United States: lessons from the Colorado River Basin. Socio Ecol Pract Res 6, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-024-00203-y
Caro-Borrero, A., Carmona- Jimenez, J., River-Ramirez, K & Bieber, K. (2021). The effects of urbanization on aquatic ecosystems in peri-urban protected areas of Mexico City: The contradictory discourse of conservation amid expansion of informal settlements. Land Use Policy, 102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.105226