Faculty Directory

Sandra Knight is a senior research engineer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an affiliate of the Center for Disaster Resilience and Project Management Center for Excellence. Her work focuses on the development of disaster and water policy, building disaster resilient communities, and promoting flood risk management initiatives. She is also the founder and president of WaterWonks LLC in Washington, D.C.

Knight completed her federal career in October 2012 as the deputy associate administrator for mitigation for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In that role, she was responsible for the nation’s floodplain mapping, management and mitigation grants supporting the National Flood Insurance Program, environmental compliance for the agency, and oversight of the National Dam Safety Program. Before joining FEMA, she was responsible for the development of policies and strategies to ensure scientific excellence at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and she spent most of her federal career as a research hydraulic engineer working on navigation, environmental, and flood risk management projects around the country with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., University of Memphis, 1996
• M.S., Mississippi State University, 1988
• B.S., Memphis State University, 1980