William solecki, ph.d., founding director
![Bill (1).jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d9ae4b9e8c4654570eac74b/1580157941375-M6I1FACK22UEZSC6EH6H/Bill+%281%29.jpg)
Dr. William Solecki is a professor in the Department of Geography at Hunter College – CUNY. His research interests include urban environmental change, and climate impacts and adaptation. He has served on several U.S. National Research Council committees including the Special Committee on Problems in the Environment (SCOPE). He is a founding member of the Urban Climate Change Research Network, and the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Project. He served as the co-leader of several climate impacts and land use studies in the New York metropolitan region, including the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) and the Metropolitan East Coast Assessment of Impacts of Potential Climate Variability and Change and was recently selected as a lead author of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group II, Urban Areas chapter (chapter 8). He holds in degrees in Geography from Columbia University (BA) and Rutgers University (MA, Ph.D).