Randy Bissell is a retired professional geologist and Texas Master Naturalist™ based in Corpus Christi. With more than 40 years of experience studying sedimentary basins around the world, one area of his research focuses on how the geologic history of the Gulf of Mexico influences modern coastal landscapes. Drawing on decades of subsurface interpretation and basin analysis, Bissell examines the connections between tectonics, salt movement, sea level, sedimentation, and the organization of rivers, bays, and estuaries along the Texas coast. He is particularly interested in how buried structural “blueprints” shape the spacing and persistence of coastal systems. Randy lectures and teaches locally on geoscience-related topics, natural history, and coastal stewardship. 

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Katherine Lieberknecht is an associate professor in the Community and Regional Planning program at the School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin. She researches environmental planning centered around equity, with specific focus areas on climate planning, urban greening, and water planning and usually in collaboration with communities. Dr. Lieberknecht teaches courses on climate relocation and migration, urban greening, and sustainable land use planning. Prior to joining the faculty, she worked in regional land conservation.  
Dr. Lieberknecht serves as co-chair of Planet Texas 2050, a University of Texas at Austin grand challenge research program that advances interdisciplinary research about climate change and resilience and co-designs adaptative strategies with communities. She was the faculty lead for the Texas Metro Observatory, a Planet Texas 2050 research project, and co-lead for the Planet Texas 2050 Flagship Project Equitable and Regenerative Cities in a Post-Carbon Future. She has served in leadership roles for several externally funded projects, including a National Science Foundation Smart and Connected Communities project focused on community-led climate adaptation in Dove Springs, Austin, Texas, and the Department of Energy-funded Southeast Texas Urban Integrated Field Laboratory in the Gulf Coast. Other recent projects include contributions to a community-led resilience hub study for the City of Austin, a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration-funded collaboration between UT Austin and EcoRise, a green jobs study for the City of Austin, and the Mellon Foundation-funded 2021 CHCI Global Humanities Institute on Climate Justice and Problems of Scale. She and her children live in Austin, which is also her childhood hometown.