Katie Gipson Ware - Country Girl to City Engineer

posted Jun 16, 2019, 1:10 PM by Louis Rodriguez [ updated Jun 19, 2019, 3:11 PM ]

Growing up in rural Tennessee, Katie Gipson Ware has always been fascinated with the environment. Prior to fully realizing her passion, Katie was interested in pursuing a career in medicine at the University of Tennessee. However, she quickly realized her interests were more directed toward climate change. After one semester, Katie changed her major to pursue a career in Civil Engineering. One of the aspects of civil engineering that appealed the most to Katie was stormwater management. After beginning her career in Tennessee, Katie decided she wanted to learn more about engineering in an urban environment. Upon moving to Philadelphia, Katie came across an opening at Rodriguez Consulting that had a focus on green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). Katie is now able to experience urban engineering along with working on projects that deal with her interests.

Spending a lot of time at her grandfather’s farm in Tennessee, Katie became fascinated with nature at a young age. As she continued to grow up, her love for the outdoors continued to flourish. Katie became very interested in climate change and other environmental issues.

While continuing her college career in engineering, she became interested in stormwater. Katie became very knowledgeable on the topic of stormwater through various jobs and opportunities. She worked at a stream restoration company which only further her interest in the topic.

Despite her passion for the environment, she decided to pursue a medical degree at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. During her first semester, Katie read a book about climate change that made her realize that she wanted to make a positive impact on the environment. Katie began researching jobs that focus on the environment. After one semester, Katie decided the medical path was not for her. She changed her major to engineering.

After a few years, Katie decided to move to Philadelphia to learn about urban stormwater infrastructure. When she moved to Philadelphia, she applied at Rodriguez where she now handles many of the water sewer and stormwater projects.