Ahmed Abukhater is a doctoral candidate in Community and Regional Planning at The University of Texas at Austin. Ahmed has received many awards for his research, including the American Planning Association (APA) award for the Best National Paper in Planning and Technology, the 2008 Cactus Goodfellow Award for his substantial contributions to The University of Texas at Austin, and the ACSP Marsha Ritzdorf Award for the best paper and superior scholarship on Diversity, Social Justice and the Role of Women in Planning. He serves as the Representative for the Community and Regional Planning Program at the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA), and the director of the International Programs and Studies. He is also an activist, artist, world-class athlete, husband, and father of a one-year-old son (and has another on the way).
What is your area of study?
My dissertation focuses on water resources management and conflict resolution in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. More precisely, my field of interest pertains to the geopolitical and hydropolitical aspects of water resources in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the transboundary management of water resources, and multinational environmental policies in the Middle East.
What drew you to study your current area of research?
I am most interested in water scarcity and environmental equity. Being a native Palestinian from the Gaza Strip, raised during the Palestinian Intifada (revolution) in a region engulfed in a weighty political power struggle, I became cognizant of the genuine value of water as the sustainer of life and peace. Within the larger field of Community and Regional Planning, I am most passionate about Sustainable Development and Environmental Planning.
For me, the appeal of Environmental Planning stems from its ability to offer environmentalists a comprehensive lens through which they can plan, manage, facilitate, mediate, and most importantly, imagine the opportunities at various scales for the sustainability and viability of human settlements.
Moreover, there is a pressing need for an urgent intervention to develop and maintain equitable resolution proposals that cater to both people’s immediate water needs and future demands. The severity and hostility of the water crisis in the Middle East in particular, and the world in general, necessitates relying on other measures of water allocation to cater to a compelling water demand. To that end, the field of planning offers powerful tools that facilitate the invention and assessment of various options and alternative scenarios.
My field of specialization is closely related to the issue of the US-Mexico dispute over water resources allocation and will be very beneficial in alleviating the regional water stress and rectifying equitable allocation of precious natural resources among disputing states.
Outside of academia, you are well known as a power-lifter. What is a highlight of that experience?
I had competed in many championships and held many regional, national and world titles, and set national and world records. In 2006, I was the first power lifter to represent Palestine in the World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters (WABDL) World Championship. I benched 452 lbs in the 2007 World Championships, which won the division and set a new Palestinian national record. I was almost speechless when I saw the Palestinian flag displayed proudly and clearly among the flags of other nations in a fair athletic competition. It was indeed a dream come true.
What were you doing before you came to The University of Texas at Austin?
I was working as a City Planner and Director of Planning Department in various government agencies here in the US and abroad. I also worked as an instructor at the University of Gaza.
Prior to that I was going to grad school, where I completed my Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I focused on Environmental Science and Sustainable Development and Planning Analysis and Geographic Information Systems (GIS-RS). And I have a Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering (PE) from the University of Gaza.
Also power lifting, which I still do. Now I serve as the Chairman of the State of
Texas WABDL (World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters).
What are your plans after finishing your PhD?
As far as my long-term plans are concerned, after obtaining my Ph.D., I would like to join academia and take part in the professional and academic formation of other young planning students. Serving as a professor, I am hoping to be able to continue to teach and research on water allocation equity. My goal is to achieve peace through equitable allocation of disputed natural resources. To achieve and maintain this goal in Palestine and the region at large, both planning as a field and planning professionals play a key role. I hope by improving my knowledge and abilities through my doctoral study, I can better contribute to this process, whether working from my home country or from the United States. With a Ph.D., I hope to help in cutting the cord to a dark past engulfed in violence and rejuvenating the hope for a peaceful and prosperous future for the whole Middle Eastern region.
So what would you say is the key to success in graduate school?
The key to my success has been effective time management and the ability to prioritize tasks. There are so many activities, tasks, and responsibilities in graduate school. Knowing what you do not need to do is perhaps even more important than knowing what you must do, and it allows you to pare down to what is truly necessary—to prioritize. That makes every task surmountable.
For more articles on Ahmed, visit:
http://www.washington-report.org/archives/November_2006/0611069.html, http://imeu.net/news/article006168.shtml, http://www.dailytexanonline.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=c6758776-63cf-4789-8165-9cfa8a63d6b7
Q & A by Elisabeth McKetta, March 2008
