I am a PhD candidate in Environmental Policy and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT and a researcher with the MIT Science Impact Collaborative, a research group working on environment-related issues at the interface of science and policy.

I am also a part-time Associate at the Consensus Building Institute (CBI), a not-for-profit organization focused on mediation and process facilitation using the mutual gains approach. CBI has long been a leader in helping parties resolve environmental disputes and engage in more effective planning, and is increasingly active on climate change adaptation issues and training.

I currently and the Project Manager and Collaboration Lead for the New England Climate Adaptation Project, a collaborative research effort involving CBI, the MIT Science Impact Collaborative, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS), and four partner towns in New England that is testing the use of science-based role-play simulations as a tool for public engagement and catalyzing collective climate change adaptation efforts. For more information about the project, check out our project website.

My research and work focus on effective means for engaging stakeholders in climate change adaptation and building consensus around adaptation strategies, given the significant uncertainty and multiple actors and interests involved. I also specialize in science communication and outreach.

Hello! 

I am a PhD candidate in the Environmental Policy and Planning Group of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. I am affiliated with the MIT Science Impact Collaborative, which works on environment-related issues at the interface of science and policy.

I also consult part-time with the Consensus Building Institute, which is a not-for-profit organization focused on mediation and process facilitation using the mutual gains approach. CBI has long been a leader in helping parties resolve environmental disputes and engage in more effective planning, and is increasingly active on climate change adaptation issues and training. Among other projects, I helped develop the online Local Communities Adapting to Climate Change course.

My research focuses on effective means for engaging stakeholders in adaptation planning for large-scale infrastructure, given the significant uncertainty and multiple actors and interests involved. For my dissertation project, which is funded by Dutch organization TNO, I am engaging stakeholders in port cities around the world. This engagement involves the use of role-play simulation exercises to quickly and easily yet vividly raise various issues and simulate certain dynamics that I want participants to act and then reflect on. My research questions revolve around the management of uncertainty, multi-stakeholder planning, and institutional and governance regime dynamics.

Although my academic background is primarily in science, I became involved in politics while at the University of Texas and went on to hold national positions in political communications. In the last decade, I served as crisis communications director for one NGO and worked in environmental issue advocacy for another. The Texas Drought Project, an organization I co-founded, is tasked with educating Texans on climate change through the lens of drought, and we are currently embarking upon a project on climate adaptation in Texas.

I am a Climate Change Adaptation Advisor with the British Columbia Climate Action Secretariat.  I work mainly on issues related to flooding and sea level rise.  I am particularly interested in policies and regulations that promote adaptation to climate change impacts and in citizen engagement to develop support for adaptation measures that will need to be taken by governments.

I am a professional planner with nearly 20 years experience in community and environmental planning. My experience in climate change focuses on adaptation and specifically Aboriginal communities and effective consultation. I have a Masters in Rural Planning & Development (Univ of Guelph), BA - Urban & Regional Planning and a BA in Geography.

I have completed a Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan for a community in Nunavut, Canada. More recently, I completed a Masters degree focusing on climate change adaptation planning for Aboriginal communities. Through my current employer, I have just completed an Environmental Scan, focusing on climate change effects on a major electrical transmission corridor.

As a volunteer, I am active as the Vice President for the International Association for Public Participation (Canadian Chapter). This position allows me to share best practies on public participation with colleagues around the world.

Ed Maibach is a University Professor and director of the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University.  With over 25 years of experience as a researcher and practitioner of public health communication and social marketing, Ed now focuses exclusively on how to mobilize populations to adopt behaviors and support public policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help communities adapt to the unavoidable consequences of climate change. Ed previously had the pleasure to serve as Associate Director of the National Cancer Institute, as Worldwide Director of Social Marketing at Porter Novelli, as Chairman of the Board for Kidsave International, and in academic positions at George Washington University and Emory University.  He earned his doctoral degree at Stanford University and his MPH at San Diego State University.