Meet Katrin
My name is Katrin Scholz-Barth. I am a German/American mom, wife, educator, and businesswoman, with a life-long career focus on sustainability. I serve on the Las Vegas, NM Tree Board and the local Rotary Club for the past three years. I love and care for Las Vegas, NM.
I am a competitive swimmer and bricklayer from former East Germany. Growing up with limited resources has taught me early on to improvise and invent to make things work. This mindset shapes me to the day. I consider myself a determined, practical, and hands-on entrepreneur with a can-do-attitude. I get things done.
A civil and environmental engineer trained in Germany, I have worked in green buildings, construction and landscapes as infrastructure, energy, soil health, and water. My heart beats at the intersection of innovation, social entrepreneurship and sustainability to make the world a brighter place; cleaner, healthier and more resilient. I view everything around me through the lens of strategic sustainability and climate action to creatively solve problems, improve performances, while reducing expenses and risks – Nature teaches us how to solve problems simply.
For eight years I taught Sustainable Landscape Design for Watershed Protection at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania and have experience in ecological landscape design and conservation agriculture.
My husband and I have lived in Minnesota, Washington, D.C. and overseas in the Middle East. We came to Las Vegas, NM in 2022.
I have observed the challenges our community faces. The 2022 Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Wildfire seemed to have uncovered years of inaction, disrepair and deferred maintenance that snowballed into much bigger problems, that could have been avoided.
To solve these poignant problems requires a hands-on approach, collaborative, and cross-discipline initiatives, honest and candid considerations and swift actions.
We have a unique opportunity to connect the historic and cultural strengths of Las Vegas, NM with contemporary challenges – to reverse global warming and strengthen biodiversity, food security and nutrition for preventative health and greater cultural and social resilience.
Personally, one of the hardest challenges in my life to date was sailing across the Atlantic to study micro plastics. I was guest crew of a pioneering all-female sailing voyage and scientific research mission to sample the ocean gyres and assess the environmental and health impacts of single-use plastic in the world’s oceans on the eXXpedition Round-the-World 2019-2021.