By the year 2050, populations in some urban centers in the United States could easily double, meaning that already-stressed and limited natural resources will need to be available for tens of millions more people. We’re part of an interdisciplinary team of more than 100 researchers from across The University of Texas at Austin that’s embarking on the university’s first-ever grand challenge initiative. Our mission is to find ways to make our region more resilient and better prepared in the face of rapid population growth and to share what we learn with researchers from around the world. We hope that our work will be instrumental in preventing the next ‘Cape Town: Day Zero’ crisis, where entire communities face critical shortages of resources like water and energy following steep population increases. Our team includes engineers, architects, geoscientists, archeologists, health experts, humanities and legal scholars, and more. Specific areas of research also include air quality/air pollution in megacities, which can have an impact on human health. Ask Us Anything about a race against the clock to shore up dwindling resources in the face of rapid population growth. Richard Corsi, Professor and Joe J. King Chair of Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, Co-Director, Center for Sustainable Development Katherine Lieberknecht, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture Adam Rabinowitz, Associate Professor, Department of Classics, Assistant Director, Institute of Classical Archaeology Lourdes Rodriguez, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Place-Based Initiatives, Dell Medical School Michael Young, Associate Director and Senior Research Scientist, Bureau of Economic Geology