Rhodes Scholar Published in Science

Tamma Carleton BA ’09, a PhD student in agricultural and resource economics at the University of California at Berkeley, is the coauthor of a new meta-analysis in Science. Analyzing data from nearly 200 studies, her work in the top science journal shows how climate change has already affected lives and what its impact will be by 2100.

Deemed “essential to making clear the everyday price of climate change” by Richard Moss of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Joint Global Change Research Institute, the study details the disruptions between higher temperatures and human reproduction, mood, academic performance, the economy, and a rise in conflict and violence.

In her time at Lewis & Clark, Carleton excelled in both academics and athletics, gaining membership into the Pamplin Society and Phi Beta Kappa, competing as a three-time Academic All-American in cross country, and participating in an overseas study program in Chile. To cap off her experience, she garnered a Rhodes Scholarship for study at Oxford University, where she earned two master’s degrees focused on quantifying the effectiveness of climate change adaptation strategies.

Carleton, who grew up in the tiny town of Elk, California (population 250), is now shaping global policy development for what many consider humanity’s greatest challenge. Her hope—indeed, the hope of countless people—is that her research will bring “awareness of adaptation strategies in policy making” and encourage a reassessment of the methods currently being used to combat climate change’s immediate and prolonged impacts.