Lisa Shaffer Named Executive Director of the UC Revelle Program on Climate Science and Policy

Lisa Shaffer, Ph.D., has been named executive director of the University of California Revelle Program on Climate Science and Policy. Shaffer is the director of policy programs and international relations at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.

The UC Revelle Program has been established to strengthen interaction between scientists engaged in advancing the understanding of Earth’s climate system and decision makers in government and the private sector applying climate science to societal needs. By expanding the collaboration among researchers studying natural science, economics, policy, and public health aspects of climate change, the program can magnify the value of research far beyond the academic environment. Scientists involved in this inter-disciplinary program are taking direct action to provide scientific and economic information and research results to key international climate negotiators, policy makers, and decision makers.

Shaffer joined Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1998. She is responsible for international cooperation and policy issues for Scripps. Her duties include establishment and management of new international programs designed to position Scripps at the forefront of major international scientific initiatives. She collaborates with government agencies, scientists, and institutional leaders around the world to advance the concept of an integrated global observing strategy, to link science with societal needs, and to promote international scientific programs. She also is an adjunct professor at UCSD’s Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies, where she teaches a course on sustainable development.

Shaffer earned a bachelor's degree in 1974 from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. degree in 1994 from the George Washington University in political science, with an emphasis on public policy, international relations, and science and technology policy. Shaffer has worked on international cooperation in Earth observation from space and related data policy issues for more than 20 years. She has served in various positions in NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and in the private sector.

Prior to joining Scripps, Shaffer was director of external relations for NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program, the world's largest environmental science program. She provided international and interagency support for NASA's Earth science program and for overall NASA relations with Asia, Australia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.

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University of California Revelle Program on Climate Science and Policy

The UC Revelle Program is designed to improve communication and enhance the impact of natural and social science on the issue of global climate change. The program does not take policy positions or make policy recommendations. Rather, it endeavors to identify important scientific research relevant to policy issues and to make this science readily available, in an understandable form, to nonscientific audiences. The program stimulates interaction between natural scientists and researchers in the social sciences and law. It enables scientists to learn about the policy-making process and how scientific results are taken into account in deliberations, as well as to provide policy makers with timely scientific knowledge needed for those deliberations.

The UC Revelle Program is led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography of UC San Diego; the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC), a multicampus research center of the University of California; and the UC San Diego Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS). Scripps is a world leader in research on climate science and the role of the oceans in the earth system. IGCC draws on science and social science experts throughout the UC system and other institutions in order to create bridges between the academic and policy communities. IR/PS provides graduate education and research in inter national environmental and economic policy issues relevant to climate change. Funding for the UC Revelle Program is also provided by the University of California Office of the President.