GECHS

Karen O’Brien, GECHS Chair, is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Human Geography at the University of Oslo, Norway. She is interested in issues related to climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the context of economic globalization and other processes of change. Her research has focused on deforestation and climate change in southern Mexico; climate variability and the use of seasonal forecasts in southern Africa; and trade liberalization and climate change in India. She is a Lead Author on the adaptation chapter for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, and a member of the Norwegian Global Change Committee. Her publications include two books: Sacrificing the Forest: Environmental and Social Struggles in Chiapas (Westview, 1998) and Coping with Climate Variability: User Responses to Seasonal Forecasts in Southern Africa (Ashgate, 2003, edited with C. Vogel), as well as articles published in Climatic Change, Global Environmental Change, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, and the Annals of the Association of American Geographers. She is currently collaborating on a book with Robin Leichenko titled Double Exposure: Global Environmental Change in an Era of Globalization (Oxford University Press, 2006).

Recent Publications

O’Brien, K., S. Eriksen, L. Sygna, and L. O. Naess (2006). “Questioning complacency: Climate change impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation in Norway.” Ambio 35(2): 50-56.

O’Brien, K. (2006). “Are we missing the point? Global environmental change as an issue of human security.” Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions 16(1): 1-3.

O’Brien, K., R. Leichenko, et al. (2004). “Mapping vulnerability to multiple stressors: climate change and globalization in India.” Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions 14(4): 303-313.