Rate My Professor Katharine Mach

Katharine Mach is Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Science and Policy in the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. She holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University (2010) and an A.B. in Biology summa cum laude from Harvard College (2004). Mach joined the University of Miami in 2019 as Associate Professor, advancing to Professor in 2022 and Chair in 2023. Previously, she was Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Earth System Science at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Environment Assessment Facility (2016-2019). From 2010 to 2015, she co-directed scientific activities for IPCC Working Group II, contributing to the Fifth Assessment Report and the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. Earlier roles include postdoctoral research at the Carnegie Institution for Science and project scientist for IPCC WGII.

Her research specializes in assessing climate-related risks—such as flooding, extreme heat, and wildfire—and response options, integrating evidence to support effective and equitable adaptations. She engages policymakers, media, private sector, NGOs, and communities on these topics. Mach is a chapter author or lead for the Fourth through Sixth U.S. National Climate Assessments and the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. Notable awards include the Piers Sellers Prize (2020) for solution-focused climate research, University of Miami Rosenstiel School Outstanding Mentor Award (2020), and Provost’s Award for Collaborative Teaching (2023). Key publications comprise “Insurance and climate risks: policy lessons from three bounding scenarios” (PNAS, 2024), “A typology of climatopias: visualizations, motivations, and transformations” (Environmental Research: Climate, 2024), and “Do small outdoor geoengineering experiments require governance?” (Science, 2024). She serves as Co-Editor in Chief of Climate Risk Management, editorial board member for Oxford Open Climate Change and Environmental Research: Climate, and member of the National Academies Climate Security Roundtable. In Spring 2025, she was Coleman P. Burke Distinguished Visiting Professor at Yale School of the Environment.