Dr. Kim Knowlton

Dr. Kim Knowlton

Senior Scientist and Deputy Director | National Resources Defense Council

Kim Knowlton, Ph.D. senior scientist and deputy director, science center for National Resources Defense Council, focuses on the public-health impacts of climate change and advocates for strategies to prepare for — and prevent — these impacts, especially in vulnerable communities. As a result of her research into the links between climate change and health, National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has partnered with a number of city and state governments to strengthen health preparedness in their climate adaptation plans. She has also studied heat- and ozone-related mortality and illness as well as the connections between climate change, infectious illnesses, flooding, aeroallergens, and respiratory ailments such as allergies and asthma. Knowlton was among the researchers who participated in the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment Report and the New York City Panel on Climate Change.

Knowlton holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, a master’s in environmental and occupational health sciences from Hunter College, and a doctorate in public health from Columbia University, where she now serves as an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. She is based in New York City.