Christopher Trisos

Dr Christopher Trisos is a Senior Research Officer at the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). His research focus is on the intersection of climate change, biodiversity and human well-being. Dr Trisos also directs the Climate Risk Lab and the newly formed African Synthesis Centre for Climate Change, Environment and Development (ASCEND) both hosted by UCT. He is a Co-ordinating Lead Author for climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability for the Africa region of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 6th Assessment Report and a member of the Core Writing Team of the IPCC Synthesis Report. He has also consulted on climate change risk and adaptation for the World Bank.

The Climate Risk Lab builds tools to predict when and where climate change risks appear, and how society can respond to climate risks in a way that is rapid, just and equitable. ASCEND provides specialised infrastructure for enabling collaborative teamwork across research, policy, and practice that integrates diverse data and knowledge, and accelerates solutions-oriented research for enhancing action on climate change and development.

Before moving to ACDI, Christopher spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center at University of Maryland, where his research focused on biodiversity, climate change and geoengineering. He completed his doctorate at Oxford. He teaches a graduate course on interdisciplinary and actionable science.