Diane Austin is an applied environmental anthropologist who specializes in environmental education, community development, industry-community relations, environmental justice, and social impact assessment. She spent seven years as a public school teacher and has over 15 years experience managing large interdisciplinary and multiyear projects and in developing and implementing participatory research and outreach approaches in diverse communities in the United States and Mexico. She has developed and maintained long-term, multisectoral and community-based partnerships with Native American communities, U.S. and Mexican border communities, and communities along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and has served as an advisor to local, state, and tribal governments and consortia in the United States and Mexico. She serves on the Good Neighbor Environmental Board, a federal advisory committee established to advise the President and Congress on U.S.-Mexico border environmental issues.