Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation

Fellowship Year: 2012

Academic Background: UC Irvine - MURP 2013- (Urban and Regional Planning)

Current Position: Intern , Inland Empire Utilities Agency

Currently Working On: Low Impact Development Planning for the Santa Ana Watershed

Lindsey is interested in the water related aspects of human-environment interactions. In particular, she wants to study planning and regenerative strategies that will support communities and simultaneously maintain the health and integrity of watersheds and ecosystems. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from California State University, Fullerton and is completing coursework toward the fulfillment of a Master of Science in Regenerative Studies from California Polytechnic State University, Pomona and a Master in Urban and Regional Planning from University of California, Irvine. She has been involved in several water-focused studies, including sustainable water use in the restaurant industry and institutional and organizational barriers to alternative water saving technologies in California water agencies. Her current research focuses on water demand mitigation fees and their effect on the availability of affordable housing. Primarily the goal of her research is to determine whether more contextual water neutral development policies can circumvent market externalities that adversely affect affordable housing. For her culminating professional report at University of California, Irvine she is performing an inventory of the available water resources in San Bernardino County and will develop an action plan leading to San Bernardino County’s water independence. She is currently a water conservation intern with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA). As an IEUA intern she has been involved with the Garden in Every School program, grant-writing to fund drought-tolerant landscape programs, and community outreach efforts. When she’s not at school or work she likes to spend time with her two dogs or pretend that she’s geyser watching at the Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park.

Expertise: Architecture & Urban Planning, Water Resources, Architecture & Urban Planning