Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences

Kim Cobb

Director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Professor
GeoChem Building
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

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
Dozens of veteran climate scientists have launched a coordinated response to a Trump administration report that casts doubt on the severity of climate change. Kim Cobb, DEEPS Professor and Director of IBES, told CNN it’s significant that the Trump administration is deep-sixing the climate assessments at the same time it’s releasing a misleading new report. She also said she hopes to help “set the record straight” on climate science in their response to the DOE report.
Read Article
The National Center for Science Education has announced the winners of the 2025 Friend of the Planet award, including IBES Director and DEEPS Professor Kim Cobb. This award recognizes Cobb's tireless efforts to support climate change education through her research, engagement, and outreach.
Read Article