Hal S. Knowles III

Hal S. Knowles III holds the rank of Associate Professor and serves as a Lecturer/Change Agent at the University of Florida. His primary affiliations include the Florida Climate Institute (FCI) as a Fellow, the DCP Vital by Design (VxD) Initiative, and the Program in Sustainability & the Built Environment within the Trim Tab Lab. He earned a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Ecology (2016), M.S. in Interdisciplinary Ecology (2004), and B.S. in Construction Management (1997) from the University of Florida.

His research focuses on fostering resilience in natural-to-urban systems, analyzing social-ecological complexity, improving community health in built environments, advancing social justice in development, and addressing climate change through energy strategies. Current projects include geospatial modeling of urban land use impacts, equity in housing/transportation, and energy performance analysis using methods like MFDFA and CRQA.

Teaching includes courses such as DCP 1241, 3200, 3210, 3220, 4290, and 4930, with extensive mentoring in capstone projects and graduate committees. He has delivered 42 guest lectures across 11 departments and contributed to $2.46M in funded projects as PI/Co-PI. Notable recognitions include the Florida Climate Institute Fellowship (2018) and leadership in events like GreenTrends 2006.

Hal has authored 4 refereed journal articles (with more in development), 46 non-refereed publications, and developed 9 multimedia curricula. His work on the My Florida Home Energy platform has engaged 48,000 users. He actively serves on academic committees in Urban and Regional Planning and Family, Youth, and Community Sciences departments.