Dr. Michael Puma

Dr. Puma is Director and Research Scientist for the Center for Climate Systems Research, which is part of Columbia University's Earth Institute. His research efforts are focused on global food security, especially the exploration of how susceptible the global network of food trade is to natural (for example, mega-droughts and volcanic eruptions) and man-made (for example, wars and trade restrictions) disturbances. Dr. Puma is particularly interested in understanding the limits to predictability for our water and food systems, as we need fundamentally different approaches for problems that are sensitive to non-predictable extremes. His efforts on global food security are supported by a fellowship from both the Center for Climate and Life and the Columbia World Projects' Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday). Dr. Puma holds both a BS and an MIA from Columbia University, and both an MA and a PhD from Princeton University. Location: New York