Professional Affiliation

Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Nebraska Omaha

Expert Bio

Elizabeth L. Chalecki was a member of the Wilson Center's Covid Cohort. 😷

Elizabeth L. Chalecki is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Nebraska Omaha, a Research Fellow in the Environmental Change & Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and a Research Chair with Fulbright Canada. Her expertise lies in the areas of climate change and security, international environmental policy, and the intersection of science/technology and IR. Dr. Chalecki has authored groundbreaking research on geoengineering and just war, and has published over 25 books, articles, and book chapters on diverse topics such as climate change and Arctic security, environmental terrorism, climate change and international law, public perceptions of environmental issues, and water in outer space.  She also serves as an environmental security subject matter expert for NATO.

She was a Visiting Mellon Scholar for Environmental Studies at Goucher College, and has taught at Boston College, Cal State Hayward and the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and worked for the Pacific Institute, Environment Canada, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Brookings Institution. She holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University, and an M.Sc. in Environmental Geography from the University of Toronto.

Wilson Center Project

Rethinking Sovereignty in a Changed Climate: The National Security Role of Commons-Based Geoengineering

Project Summary

Commons-based geoengineering (CBG) are those types of climate manipulation technologies that are deployed from the global commons: stratosphere or high seas. They are not governed by international law, and any nation that faces a climate-related security threat may consider using these technologies as a matter of national defense. However, the national security framework is inseparable from the scientific, legal, and ethical questions surrounding CBG, just as it was for the atomic bomb. This project will determine a forward-looking foundational document on whether CBG has a valid role in staving off climate-related threats to U.S. national security.

Major Publications

Chalecki, E., and L. Ferrari. 2018. "A New Security Framework for Geoengineering" Strategic Studies Quarterly 12(2).

Chalecki, E. and L. Ferrari. 2016. "More Maple Leaf, Less CO2: Canada and a Global Geo-Engineering Regime" Canadian Foreign Policy in a Unipolar World, Oxford University Press.

Chalecki, E. 2013. Environmental Security: A Guide to the Issues. Praeger Security International.