Erin Coughlan de Perez
Associate Professor
- Dignitas Associate Professor
- Technical Advisor, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
Erin bridges science, policy, and practice in her research on climate risk management around the world. She focuses on extreme events, exploring how droughts, floods, heatwaves, and other climate shocks can be anticipated before they happen. Erin works with humanitarian teams on the development of early action protocols to avoid disaster impacts, and she researches the adoption and effectiveness of climate change adaptation measures.
Erin comes to the Feinstein Center from the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, where she built a global climate science team and led the first Forecast-based Financing pilots in the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. Erin retains a technical advisor position at the Climate Centre, to maintain links to humanitarian operations around the world. Erin was formerly an Associate at Columbia University.
Erin received her PhD from VU University Amsterdam, her MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and her BS in Environmental Science and International Development from McGill University
Erin is also a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report. Her chapter is Decision-Making Options for Managing Risk, as part of the Working Group II on Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability.
Erin lives in Boston with her partner and children, where they are active foster parents and beekeepers.
Education
- BS, Environmental Science and International Development, McGill University
- MA, Climate and Society, Columbia University
- PhD, VU University Amsterdam
