Dr. Maya Trotz is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida. Her work fosters convergence research around various natural and built infrastructures with and within coastal communities. She has led projects to increase research experiences for undergraduate students and teachers, and currently works to improve undergraduate engineering education, and faculty performance to meet Grand Engineering Challenges. Co-creating knowledge with communities and combining stories with data for action, especially around water, are integral to her approach. She is a past President of the Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors (AEESP), an AEESP Fellow, and a board member of Fragments of Hope Corp, a non-profit focused on coral restoration in Belize.