Kaleigh Yost, Ph.D., ’15

Major: Civil Engineering (Structural)

Leading research to improve infrastructure and community resilience to natural hazards

Combining engineering expertise with a commitment to community resilience, Kaleigh Yost, Ph.D., ’15 leads geotechnical engineering research focused on safeguarding vulnerable communities from severe natural disasters and multi-hazard risks. As the L. Robert and Mary L. Kimball Early Career Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, Yost, with her team, aims to improve infrastructure and flood resilience in rural, underserved communities in Pennsylvania. She actively develops innovative methods to better characterize levee systems and visualize how they perform during flood events. She also studies converging multi-hazards, including sea level rise, coastal storms, and earthquakes that threaten large regions like the Pacific Rim. 

Committed to professional service, Yost serves as co-chair for the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Public Policy and Advocacy Committee and as a mentor for ARISE-US, a private sector alliance for disaster resilient societies created by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. This year, she received the 2025 EERI Younger Member Award and was elected to serve on the board of the United States Universities Council on Geotechnical Education and Research.

After earning her degree in civil engineering from the University of Notre Dame, Yost earned her master’s in geotechnical civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and completed her Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. During her time at Notre Dame, she received the Rev. Thomas A. Steiner, C.S.C., award for all-around excellence as a graduating senior in the College of Engineering.

Yost and her husband welcomed their first child, Riley, in April 2025.