The goal of this half-day workshop is to strengthen research on the links between environmental change and human security, particularly through interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration. Recent conflict in places such as Syria, or patterns of infection disease in Asia, or climate stressors that could accelerate unilateral deployment of geoengineering are just a few examples of the ways in which environmental change and human security are coupled. Understanding these challenges requires research that spans not only different disciplines, such as climate and behavioral science, but also the gap between researchers and practitioners. The presentation and workshop will showcase and build on the work of the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Education and Research, which recently released a report highlighting research needs in this area.

1. Keynote/Q&A: Honorable Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence

2. Paper presentation and context setting: Dr. Ann Bostrom, Weyerhaeuser Endowed Professor in Environmental Policy, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington

Professor Bostrom will set the context by presenting the findings from “Environmental Change and Human Security: Research Directions for the NSF,” which an advisory committee presented to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in March 2021. The purpose of the report was to inform the opportunities within the NSF to promote research at the intersection of environmental science and security, with the goal of producing new understanding and a new workforce ready to tackle the rapidly growing number of security threats tied to environmental change.

3. Participants will be invited to join small group discussions with co-authors of the paper (including NSF staff), virtually and live, including through lightning interventions we will accept and invite in advance. We also would hope to invite supplementary speakers to breakout groups, such as someone from the Inuit Circumpolar Council for the Arctic discussion. Facilitators will pose guiding questions that identify critical gaps and opportunities in each of the identified topical areas. At the end of the small group meetings, the co-authors will join with NSF staff in a panel discussion of the small group discussions and the opportunities for federal research coordination on environmental and human security.

Possible breakout topic areas and discussion leaders from the advisory committee:

Direct Effects of Environmental Change on Human Security

Peter Huybers, Harvard University

Sharon Burke, New America

Ashley Pierce, AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow, National Science Foundation

Indirect Effects of Environmental Change on Human Security

Ann Bostrom, Washington University

Leah Nichols, Director, Institute for a Sustainable Earth at George Mason University

Multidimensional perspectives on human-environment interactions

Shannon O’Lear, University of Kansas

Brandi Schottel, Integrative Activities Program Director in the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems Division, National Science Foundation

International Diplomacy and Carbon Management

Andres F. Clarens, University of Virginia

Anjuli Bamzai, Senior Science Advisor, Global Climate Change, National Science Foundation

The Arctic

Patricia Matrai, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and Advisory Committee Member

Environmental Change and Peacebuilding

Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Ohio University

Benjamin Preston, RAND Corporation

• AMS: American Meteorological Society -
• ESA: Ecological Society of America -
• WCRP: World Climate Research Programme -