Jessica Hellmann
Executive Director and Ecolab Chair in Environmental Leadership at the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment
Dr. Jessica Hellmann is executive director and Ecolab Chair in Environmental Leadership at the University of Minnesota (U of M) Institute on the Environment as well as a U of M ecology professor. Hellmann also leads the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, a federally funded consortium of higher education and natural resource organizations dedicated to generating actionable science that responds to the climate crisis.
An influential expert on global change ecology and climate adaptation, Hellmann examines the impact of climate change on natural and human systems, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and climate adaptation. She was among the first to propose and study techniques for reducing the impact of climate change through conservation management, leading a paradigm shift in ecology and natural resource management. Hellmann advises governments, corporations, and nonprofits on building investments in renewable energy and climate adaptation and has co-authored several climate assessment and adaptation planning efforts.
Hellmann earned her Ph.D. in biology from Stanford University in California. She is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Ecological Society of America and serves on the boards of the National Audubon Society, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and COMPASS.
