Warm water in the Pacific Ocean is getting even warmer, likely to peak this winter as one of the strongest El Niño events in recorded history. Kim Cobb, Director of IBES and DEEPS Professor, spoke with NBC Connecticut about the El Niño's historical trends and recent local impact.
Read Article
Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences
Kim Cobb
Director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Professor
GeoChem Building
Room 133
Room 133
Research Interests
Earth History, Environmental Science, Geochemistry, Oceans Ice and Atmospheres
Biography
Kim Cobb is the Lawrence and Barbara Margolis Director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, and Professor in Environment and Society as well as Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences. As a climate scientist, she uses observations of past and present climate to advance our understanding of future climate change impacts, with a focus on climate extremes and coastal flooding. She received her B.A. from Yale University in 1996, and her Ph.D. in Oceanography from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in 2002.
Prior to joining Brown in 2022, Kim served as Director of the Global Change Program at Georgia Institute of Technology, Professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and ADVANCE Professor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She has received an NSF CAREER Award, a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and the Hans Oeschger Medal from the European Geosciences Union in 2019. She was elected as an AAAS Fellow in 2021, and was a Lead Author for the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, released in 2021. In 2023 she was appointed to President Biden’s Intelligence Advisory Board, and was elected as one of the 2023 American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Fellows.
As a mother to four, Kim is a strong advocate for women in science, and champions diversity and inclusion in all that she does. She is also devoted to the communication of climate change to the public through media appearances, public speaking, and social media channels, and enjoys frequent exchanges with policymakers about climate impacts and solutions.
Recent News
Soaring temperatures put intense pressure on the energy grid, further strained as data centers are increasing energy demand. Many data centers rely on backup diesel generators, which release planet-warming emissions and lack air pollution controls designed to safeguard public health. Kim Cobb, DEEPS Professor and Director of IBES, commented on the relationship between higher temperatures and higher electricity demands, saying, “Even a modest increase in baseline temperature causes an exponential increase in heat extremes. You find yourself crossing these heat extremes much more frequently.”
Read Article
A new series of workshops hosted by Climate Ready Together shares general information about how Providence is impacted by climate change and how residents can get involved in addressing it on a macro level. The most effective method for combating climate change relies on coordinated state-level strategy, notes DEEPS Professor and IBES Director Kim Cobb, citing the importance of “real awareness and education across many different channels and many different avenues,” including in classrooms and town councils. The story is published as part of a collaboration between ecoRI News and students in Brown University’s Science Journalism class.
Read Article
National Center for Science Education
2025 Friend of Darwin and Friend of the Planet Celebration
Celebrate the 2025 Friend of Darwin and Friend of the Planet awardees in this recording of our virtual celebration. Hear from the winners, including DEEPS Professor and IBES Director Kim Cobb.
Read Article
Brown Daily Herald
Fighting the College Hill floods: Brown takes steps to contain stormwater
Increasingly severe rain storms are straining an aging city and campus infrastructure. Beneath the recently renovated Ruth J. Simmons Quadrangle, Brown installed water storage tanks “that will accept the high volume” of rainwater produced during high-intensity storms. “There’s not a single campus across the country that is immune to climate-related impacts and threats to its infrastructure,” commented DEEPS Professor and IBES Director Kim Cobb. “You often do need to wait to see those impacts on the ground before you make the deep investments.”
Read Article
Inside Climate News
Dozens of Scientists Call DOE Climate Report ‘Fundamentally Incorrect’
More than 85 climate scientists declared the Department of Energy’s new climate report unfit for policymaking in a comprehensive review. DEEPS Professor and IBES Director Kim Cobb, who co-authored two sections of the review, said, “It’s really important that we stand up for the integrity of [climate science] when it matters the most. And this may very well be when it mattered the most.”
Read Article