Louise Chawla, is an author and environmental psychologist. She is Professor Emerita in the Program in Environmental Design at the University of Colorado Boulder and a current fellow in the Community Engagement, Design, and Research Center (CEDaR). Formerly, she served as the Director of Children, Youth and Environments Center for Community Engagement at the University. 

Chawla is active in several community organizations, including: Growing Up Boulder, the Boulder County Environmental Education Collaborative, the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Children & Nature Network, and the Growing Up in Cities program of UNESCO. She also previously taught at Kentucky State University and was the former co-editor of the Children Youth and Environments Journal. She has written three books, the most recent of which––Placemaking with Children and Youth: Participatory Practices for Planning Sustainable Communities (New Village Press, 2018)––she co-authored with Victoria Derr and Mara Mintzer.

Her research areas include children and nature, children in cities, participatory planning and design, and the development of committed action for the environment. She publishes widely with a specific focus on participatory planning and design with young people, benefits that young people gain from engaging with nature, and the development of active care for the natural world. She currently resides in Colorado.