Joel Smith
Joel B. Smith is an expert with over 35 years of experience researching climate change vulnerability and adaptation. He led the first national assessment of climate change impacts, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study of climate change impacts in the late 1980s, and the first global assessment of climate change impacts, published by Cambridge University Press in 1995. He served twice as a Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, where he conceived of and led the development of the synthesis of climate change impacts (a.k.a., “Burning Embers”), which has been updated in subsequent IPCC reports. He has published more than 70 journal articles, edited books, and book chapters, and written two dozen reports for government and research organizations on climate change vulnerability. Mr. Smith worked for EPA and has been a consultant for most of his career. He taught at Universities on climate change and serves on several advisory boards to the U.S. government and the United Nations.