Robin Leichenko
Professor, Co-Director of the Rutgers Climate Institute
Rutgers University, Department of Geography
Biography
Robin Leichenko is Professor of Geography at Rutgers University and co-Director of the Rutgers Climate Institute. Her current research explores the economic and equity impacts of climate change with a focus on the Northeast United States. Dr. Leichenko serves as co-chair of the fourth New York City Panel on Climate Change, an independent 20-member advisory body that synthesizes scientific information and advises city policymakers on local resiliency and adaptation strategies. Dr. Leichenko previously served as a review editor for Working Group II of the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Leichenko has authored or co-authored three books and more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Her book, Environmental Change and Globalization: Double Exposures (2008, Oxford University Press, with Karen O’Brien), won the Meridian Book Award for Outstanding Scholarly Contribution from the American Association of Geographers. Her latest book, Climate and Society: Transforming the Future (with Karen O’Brien) was published by Polity Press in 2019.
Rutgers Climate Bridge Conference Overview
Abstract
The impacts of climate change are highly uneven across regions, communities, populations, and social groups. These uneven impacts are shaped by existing patterns and processes of social, economic, and racial inequality and marginalization, such that those most exposed to climate shocks and stresses often have limited capacity to respond and limited voice in adaptation decisions. Yet climate change also offers openings and opportunities for addressing inequalities and enhancing equity, particularly when voices and needs of affected communities are included in climate adaptation planning. I will discuss challenges and opportunities for equitable and just adaptation using examples from New Jersey and New York.