Sarah at an action against oil refineries in Richmond, CA. August 2013
The Department of Geography at Berkeley and the wider geographic community mourn the loss of one of its most beloved alumni, Dr. Sarah E. Knuth. Sarah passed away on July 25, 2026, just a few days before her 44th birthday, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. Her wide-reaching and impactful scholarly work covered both theoretical and practical approaches to energy transitions. Sarah is remembered as an extraordinarily bright, warm, and welcoming presence during her years in graduate school, a community mainstay for multiple cohorts of geographers, and an optimistic yet practical voice for building better futures.
Sarah received her doctorate in Geography from UC Berkeley in 2014 with her thesis “Seeing Green: Speculative Urbanism in the Green Economy.” The breadth of her research was reflected in her close work with her committee of Richard Walker (chair), Paul Groth, Nathan Sayre, and Dan Kammen, though she could often be found deep in conversation in offices across McCone. Sarah GSI’d many classes at Berkeley and famously took over teaching Economic Geography upon Walker’s retirement, changing the life courses of her students with her impassioned lectures and encyclopedic readers.
Sarah built welcoming, supportive, and inclusive communities wherever she was. She took new students out to lunch for mentoring on life as a graduate student and hosted whole department gatherings overlooking the bay from her rental house atop Eagle Hill. At the same time, Sarah was a fierce and enduring advocate for justice. At Berkeley she (quite literally) fought austerity during the 2008 financial crisis and was a tireless organizer in UAW 2865. Beyond graduate school, she dedicated her life's work to see climate justice in our times.
Sarah held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan and taught at Oberlin College before being lured to one of the UK’s top geography programs at Durham University. At Durham, Sarah was a beloved colleague who continued to teach radical political economy, mentor PhD students, and drive cutting edge research on critical geographies of just energy transitions and climate change. Sarah pursued meaningful policy work around housing, industry, and finance through the think tank the Climate and Community Institute.
Sarah had battled cancer for nearly two years before her passing and will be remembered by her family, friends, and academic community as an extremely passionate, extraordinarily empathetic, and wonderfully authentic person. She was a bright light in many lives and her legacy will be continued by colleagues and friends.
A fund has been established in her honor: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/climate-and-community-project?refcode=memorial.