Klimagune Conferences & Workshops

Maxwell T. Boykoff is an Associate Professor in the Center for Science and Technology Policy, which is part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He teaches in the Environmental Studies program and is Adjunct faculty in the Geography Department. In addition, Max is a Senior Visiting Research Associate in the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford.

He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from the University of California-Santa Cruz and Bachelor of Sciences in Psychology from The Ohio State University. Max has ongoing interests in climate adaptation, cultural politics and environmental governance, science-policy interactions, and political economy and the environment, and he has experience working in North America, Central America, South Asia and Europe.

Max’s research and creative work has two primary focal areas.

One focus is on the ‘cultural politics of climate change’ which refers to how the attitudes, intentions, beliefs and behaviors of individuals and groups shape (and are shaped by) the perceived spectrum of possible action in the context of climate change.

A second focus is on the transformations of carbon-based economies and societies, with a particular emphasis on the interface of science and practical action, including policies. Through many connected projects and collaborations, his research commitments have been fueled by interests in how climate science and policy find meaning in people’s everyday lives, as well as how this, in turn, feeds back into science-policy decision-making.

Cultural Politics of Climate Change

This strand of work focuses on the cultural politics of climate change has two components: (a) media coverage of climate change, and (b) the relationship of cultural values and norms with policy and politics. There are numerous projects that have emerged from this area of Max’s research program.

Media Coverage of Climate Change

Over the past decade, Max has published many peer-reviewed papers and book chapters addressing this subject. However, the monograph ‘Who Speaks for the Climate? Making Sense of Media Reporting on Climate Change’ (2011, Cambridge University Press) provided a novel and cohesive book-length narrative on issues of media and climate change while also bridging between academic considerations and real world developments. As such, this book has helped students, academic researchers and interested members of the public make sense of media reporting on climate change as it explores 'who speaks for climate' and what effects this may have on the spectrum of possible responses to contemporary climate challenges. As another example, originally with colleague Maria Mansfield (University of Oxford) and now with colleague Ami Nacu-Schmidt (University of Colorado) Max Boykoff has developed methods to monitor media coverage of climate change at the international and various national scales (updated monthly).
The relationship of cultural values and norms with policy and politics
This component of work has sought to critically analyze the role of various actors and organizations shaping political and cultural dimensions of climate science and policy discussions in the public arena. An example of this is a project examining outlier perspectives in climate discussions often called climate ‘contrarians’.Another example of work in this area is a project (and 2009 peer-reviewed paper in Geoforum, co-authored with Michael K. Goodman) interrogating the role of celebrities – an increasingly important community of non-state ‘actors’ – shaping climate discussions in the public arena.
To date, Max has contributed to more than sixty publications (from peer-reviewed journal articles, books and reports to reviews and commentaries). These have included articles in Geoforum, Global Environmental Change, Transactions of the Institute of British Geography, Political Geography, Public Understanding of Science, Environmental Research Letters, and Climatic Change. He has also written commentaries for the Washington Post, Nature Reports Climate Change, the Guardian (London) and Nieman Reports.
Max's research has been mentioned in a range of outlets such as Science, Nature, Financial Times, the Guardian, the New York Times, Forbes, Columbia Journalism Review, the Los Angeles Times, BBC Worldservice and (US) National Public Radio. He has also appeared on CNN International and France24 television.

Unai Pascual  is an ecological economist (PhD University of York, UK, 2002). He is an Ikerbasque Research Professor at the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), where he coordinates the Climate and Natural Environment Research line. Previously he was Senior Lecturer in environmental economics and policy at the University of Cambridge, Department of Land Economy (2002-2013). He also lectured on environmental economics at the University of Manchester (2000-2002).  

Prof Pascual carries out research on the interactions between climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem services from an interdisciplinary perspective. He has conducted research in Europe and especially in developing countries, including Europe, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and India. Prof. Pascual’s scientific output appears in more than 70 peer reviewed publications in international journals such including, Science, PNAS, BioScience, Global Change Biology, Conservation Biology, Global Environmental Change, Conservation Letters, Environment and Resource Economics,  Ecological Economics, Land Economics, World Development, etc. He has also published various books on the links between biodiversity and economic development, many book chapters, and has given numerous talks and keynotes around the world.

Prof. Pascual’s has an active role in international policy bodies. He is a member of the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). He is also member of the scientific committee of the Future Earth - EcoSERVICES programme, the Scientific Commission of the Great Ape Survival Partnership GRASP (led by UNESCO & UNEP) and of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s (UNSDSN) on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Previously he was also member of the scientific committee of the agrobiodiversity programme of Diversitas and serves in various editorial boards of international peer reviewed journals such as Global Environmental Change. He servea as advisor to research councils in Europe (EU Commission, Spain, France, UK, Sweden, Portugal) and international programmes such as the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the International Institute for Environment and Development, UK (IIED), Mexican Government’s Comisión nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO), and the Consultative Group on (CGIAR).