George Perkins Marsh Institute
Experts in the George Perkins Marsh Institute research the socio-ecological, technical, and institutional systems through which humans interact with the environment, as well as how to respond to change.
For decades, Clark University scholars have confronted the climate crisis through research and engagement across the world. We explore questions spanning climate science, vulnerability, mitigation, and adaptation at the intersection of social equity and justice. Our holistic approach to climate and global change inspires all of us to take action — now.
Meet some of the Clark University faculty, students, and alumni committed to confronting the climate crisis.
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF Geography
To understand large-scale linkages between land, atmosphere, ocean, and ice in polar environments, Karen Frey combines the use of field measurements, satellite remote sensing, and GIScience. She focuses her efforts on the impacts of terrestrial permafrost degradation across Siberia as well as the cascading consequences of sea ice decline in polar shelf environments. Frey serves as a lead author of NOAA’s Arctic Report Card and as a vice-chair in the International Arctic Science Committee.
international Development, community, and environment
An internationally recognized expert on human adaptation to climate change, Ed Carr is a lead author of a chapter in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Working Group II Sixth Assessment Report. At Clark, he is the director of the International Development, Community, and Environment Department.
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF Geography
A member of the Global Land Program’s scientific steering committee, Rinku Roy Chowdhury collaborates on climate and land system science projects through the National Science Foundation’s Long-Term Ecological Research (NSF LTER) programs. She recently contributed to an NSF LTER project examining how coastal ecosystems connected to the Florida Everglades are changing due to sea level rise and human activities.
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF Geography & environmental science program
Christopher A. Williams engages in outreach and decision support for carbon and climate mitigation in natural and working lands, principally forests. By leading science on the climate impacts of forest change, his Biogeosciences Research Group guides state agencies on their greenhouse gas reporting and climate action planning and supports conservation and land trust organizations with their assessments of climate mitigation opportunities. Williams also is director of the Environmental Science Program.
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF Geography
Lyndon Estes and the Agricultural Impacts Research Group develop and apply next generation Earth Observation methods to study rapidly changing agricultural lands in Africa, and how they impact and are impacted by drought and climate change.
George Perkins Marsh institute & ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT
In placing a value on our environmental assets and how they might be affected by climate change, Robert Johnston, director of the George Perkins Marsh Institute and editor of the journal Resource and Energy Economics, works on research initiatives focused on the health of waterways and coastal areas throughout New England. He has served on the U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board and a working group of the NOAA Scientific Advisory Board.
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF Geography
Abby Frazier leads the Hawaii and U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, a congressionally mandated report. Her research includes a National Science Foundation-funded grant to install a new network of climate stations across the islands to better understand complex weather patterns.
Water Quality
An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes how a Clark-led study is exploring New Englanders’ attitudes toward water quality.
Renewable energy
Over the past decade, Graduate School of Geography faculty and students have intensified their research into renewable energy solutions.
Technology and Community
Researchers to use GIS mapping and XR technology to explore our future under climate change.
Undergraduate Research
In their first semester here, students conduct research and meet with esteemed climate scholars.
Energy: Past and Future
Geography Professor Tony Bebbington explores mining’s impact on people and the environment.
Clark’s Focus on Climate and Global Change
The numbers paint a picture of Clark faculty and student engagement in climate research across the world.