Program Manager,
International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), Columbia University
Catherine Vaughan is a senior staff associate at the IRI, where she has worked since 2008.
As part of her responsibilities at the IRI, Cathy serves as program manager for the Climate Services Partnership, an informal interdisciplinary network working to improve the use of climate information for societal decision-making around the world. In this capacity, Cathy facilitates virtual and in-person collaboration to improve the practice and performance of climate services: leading a range of communication efforts; supporting working groups on ethics, evaluation, and research priorities; and organizing the last four International Conferences on Climate Services.
Cathy also conducts research on factors that determine the relative success of climate services, particularly in Latin America. She is completing doctoral studies in climate service evaluation at the Sustainability Research Institute at the University of Leeds. Cathy previously served as IRI’s Regional Program Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean and as one of the editors of the third Climate & Society Publication: A Better Climate for Disaster Risk Management.
Prior to joining the IRI, Cathy worked with the Global Roundtable on Climate Change, the Permanent Mission of Dominica to the United Nations, the Austin Chronicle, and the New York State Department of Health. From 2003 to 2005, she served with the US Peace Corps in rural Zambia. Cathy has masters’ degrees in International Relations (Yale 2007) and Climate & Society (Columbia 2008); her undergraduate degree was awarded with High Honors from Swarthmore College.