Diana Liverman

I work on environmental issues, especially the human dimensions of climate change including climate impacts, adaptation, and justice. 

I live in Tucson, Arizona, and recently retired as a Regents Professor at the University of Arizona, School of Geography, Development, and Environment.  

I am still active in research - especially on climate governance and justice - and volunteer with several climate action groups but I am no longer accepting new grad students or postdocs.  I am happy that the Geography department at the University of Arizona has lots of amazing environmental scholars and students.

I also hold a. Research Fellowship at Linacre College, Oxford University where I am the former director of the Environmental Change Institute.  I was born in Ghana, and grew up in England.

I study global environmental change, earth systems, and climate justice, especially the social causes and consequences of climate change.  More specifically I 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.

I 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 the Environment at the University of Arizona and the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University. I was a PhD student and postdoc at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado (working with Steve Schneider) and received my degrees from UCLA (PhD Geography), University of Toronto (MA Geography) and University College London (BA Geography). 

I have been fortunate to lead and serve 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. I have 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. I have also worked on the US National Climate Assessment. 

I sit on the board of Julie's Bicycle - an NGO focused on climate change and the cultural sector including art and music - and I am on the coordinating committee for Third Act Arizona - a group motivating seniors for climate action.  I am a coordinating lead author for the North American Biodiversity and Climate Assessment.  I also sit on the Mayor of Tucson's advisory committee on climate change.  I volunteer with the Casa Alitas migrant shelter and as a docent at Reid Park Zoo.

In 2020 I 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.  

This web site provides links to my writings – books, articles, media – as well as information on my research interests and projects and the organizations I advise or support. I have supervised more than 70 graduate students who have inspired me. 

The best way to contact me is by email at liverman@arizona.edu although like many of you I sometimes get overwhelmed by my email and get behind in my responses

In consultation with Native American scholars the University of Arizona adopted an acknowledgment that states "We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O'odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service."  I do my best to be an ally to Indigenous colleagues and communities.