Dr. Diana Liverman
Dr. Liverman’s research has focused on the human dimensions of global environmental change and her main research interests include climate impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, and climate policy and mitigation especially in the developing world. More specifically she have worked over the years on climate vulnerability and adaptation, carbon offsets, US-Mexico border environments, planetary boundaries, political ecology, and women in climate change.In her retirement, she is still active in research - especially on climate governance and justice - and volunteer with several climate action groups.
Dr. Liverman also holds a Research Fellowship at Linacre College, Oxford University where she is the former director of the Environmental Change Institute. She was born in Ghana, and grew up in England.
She helped to build interdisciplinary environmental programs at the University of Arizona, Oxford University, Penn State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison including directing the Institute of Environment (now Arizona Institute for Resilience) at the University of Arizona and the Environmental Change at Oxford University. She was a PhD student and postdoc at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado (working with Steve Schneider) and received her degrees from UCLA (PhD Geography), University of Toronto (MA Geography) and University College London (BA Geography).
Dr. Liverman lead and served with a number of national and international projects and committees including the Earth Commission of Future Earth, the US-NRC Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change, the US-NRC panel on Informing America’s Climate Choices, the scientific advisory committee for the InterAmerican Institute (IAI) and the ICSU Global Environmental Change and Food Systems (GECAFS) project. She has been an IPCC lead author for several assessments including the 2018 Special Report on 1.5C and a review editor for the 2022 Sixth Assessment Working Group 2. She has also worked on the US National Climate Assessment. She is a coordinating lead author for the North American Biodiversity and Climate Assessment, and sits on the Mayor of Tucson's advisory committee on climate change.
Dr. Liverman sits on the board of Julie's Bicycle - an NGO focused on climate change and the cultural sector including art and music - and she is on the coordinating committee for Third Act Arizona - a group motivating seniors for climate action. She volunteers with the Casa Alitas migrant shelter and as a docent at Reid Park Zoo.
In 2020, Dr. Liverman was honored to be elected to the US National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2022 as a fellow of the British Academy.