She worked at the Field Museum of Natural History and served as National President of the coed Venturing program of the Boy Scouts of America.

After graduating with her B.A, Knuth spent a year in Norway as a Fulbright student, studying how the country's strong environmental ethic affected the development of oil into one of its major industries.

Knuth was concerned about how an extreme weather event intersected with racial and economic injustice in ways that made many people suffer.

[4] After her stint in the legislature, Knuth returned to work as the Director for the Boreas Leadership Program at the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment.

[1] She said she decided to run because of what she called Frey's lack of leadership and the absence of other candidates who could assemble a broad coalition to help move the city forward.