Karen O’Brien is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Human Geography at the University of Oslo. Her research explores the human and social dimensions of global environmental change, including the relationship between individual and collective change. Her current research project, ‘AdaptationCONNECTS,’ focuses on the relationship between climate change adaptation and transformations to sustainability, with an emphasis on collaboration, creativity, flexibility, and empowerment.
She has written and edited numerous books and papers on climate change and its implications for human security and has participated in four reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Her recent textbook: Climate and Society: Transforming the Future (co-authored with Robin Leichenko), presents an integrative approach to climate change and sustainability transformations. She is the co-founder of cCHANGE (www.cCHANGE.no), an initiative to promote new perspectives on transformation in a changing climate.