Ahmed Rachid El-Khattabi

Dr. Ahmed Rachid El-Khattabi is a Research Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently serves as the Interim Executive Director and Associate Director for Research and Data at the UNC Environmental Finance Center (UNC EFC), where he oversees financial sustainability tools, applied research projects, and data management. His work focuses on environmental issues since 2016, particularly in the water sector, addressing topics such as sustainability, affordability, innovation, and resilience.

Previously, he worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as an ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow and Economist in the Water Economics Center. At the EPA, he contributed to developing tools like EJSCREENbatch and research supporting national water regulations. His expertise spans environmental justice, non-market valuation, and regionalization strategies.

• Education:
  • Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning, UNC Chapel Hill (2020)
  • MS in Economics, UNC Chapel Hill (2016)
  • MS in Economic Policy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2013)
  • BA and BS in Economics and Biology, Stanford University (2010)

His research interests center on environmental sustainability, water resource management, and equitable policy solutions. He has published extensively on water affordability, utility viability, and disaster response mechanisms. Current projects emphasize leveraging technology and data to improve water infrastructure resilience and address environmental justice challenges.

Dr. El-Khattabi’s work bridges academic research and practical policy implementation, with a focus on interdisciplinary approaches to solving complex environmental challenges.