Lisa Dale teaches at Columbia University’s Climate School, where she serves as co-Director for the Masters’ program in Climate & Society. Trained as a political scientist, her research explores the way policies at all levels of government can enhance the capacity of rural communities to adapt to climate change. She studies this dynamic in the American West through research on wildfire policy, and in Sub-Saharan Africa through research on resettlement policy in Rwanda.

Lisa graduated with a Ph.D. in Environmental Policy from Colorado State University (2003). Her background includes several years as a policy analyst with the State of Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources. She currently lives and works in New York City, with a secondary academic appointment at the University of Rwanda.