Research Interests:

My broad research interests are related to the human dimensions of global change and social studies of science. I am particularly interested in understanding: (a) the intersection between development and climate, especially concerning the relationship between anti-poverty programs and risk management (b) the use of technoscientific information, especially seasonal climate (El Nino forecasting) in building adaptive capacity to climate variability and change (drought planning, water management, and agriculture) in the U.S. (Great Lakes) and Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Chile); (c) the impact of technocratic decisionmaking on issues of democracy and equity; (d) the co-production of science and policy and the role of technocrats as decisionmakers; (e) the role of popular participation in urban environmental policymaking and policymaker/client interactions; (f)U.S.-Mexico border region environmental policymaking especially regarding transboundary water conflict, environmental health, a common use of shared natural resources.

Teaching Interests:

international environmental public policy; environment and development; climate and development

Current/Recent Teaching:

Environmental Policymaking in Latin America ENVIRON 212 Global Change III: Impacts, Institutions and Adaptation ENVIRON 313 Environment and Development: Dilemmas of Power and Place in a Global World (with Arun Agrawal) NRE 677 Environment and Development NRE 580 Integrated Problem Solving (with Don Scavia) NRE 563 International Environmental Policy NRE 555 Climate and Development

Selected Publications:

Dilling, L. and M. C. Lemos (2011). Creating usable science: Opportunities and constraints for climate knowledge use and their implications for science policy. Global Environmental Change, vol. 21, pp. 680–689.  

Engle, N. L., O. R. Johns, M. C. Lemos, and D. R. Nelson (2011). Integrated and adaptive management of water resources: tensions, legacies, and the next best thing. Ecology and Society 16(1): 19. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss1/art19/

Lemos, M. C. and R. Rood (2010). Climate projections and their impact on policy and practice. Wires Climate Change, vol. 1, sep-oct, pp. 670-82.

Lemos, M. C., A. Bell, N. Engle, R. Formiga-Johnsson and D. R. Nelson (2010). Technical Knowledge and Water Resources Management: A Comparative Study of River Basin Councils, Brazil. Water Resource Research, VOL. 46, W06523, doi:10.1029/2009WR007949.

Eakin, H. and M. C. Lemos (2010). Institutions and change: The challenge of building adaptive capacity in Latin America. In Adaptive Capacity to Global Change in Latin America. Special Issue edited by Hallie Eakin and Maria Carmen Lemos. Global Environmental Change 20 (2010) 1–3.  

Engle, N. and M.C. Lemos (2010). Unpacking governance: Building adaptive capacity to climate change for river basins in Brazil. Global Environmental Change 20 (2010) 4–13. 

 Tompkins, E. L., M. C. Lemos, and E. Boyd (2008).  A less disastrous disaster: managing response to climate-driven hazards in the Cayman Islands and NE Brazil, Global Environmental Change, vol.18, pp. 736–745.

Lemos M.C. (2008). What influences innovation adoption by water managers? Climate information use in Brazil and the US. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 44(6): 1388-1396.

Lemos, M.C. and J. T.Roberts (2008). Environmental Policymaking Networks and the Future of the Amazon. Philosophical Transactions of the RoyalSociety B, vol. 363, no. 1498/May (on-line doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.0038).

Kumler, L. M., and M. C. Lemos. 2008. Managing waters of the Paraíba do Sul river basin, Brazil: a case study in institutional change and social learning. Ecology and Society 13(2): 22. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art22/

Lemos, M. C. (2008).“Whose water is it anyway? Water management, knowledge, and equity in NEBrazil”. In Water and Equity: Fair Practice in Apportioning Water among Places andValues. Edited by John Whiteley, Richard Perry and Helen Ingram. MITPress: Cambridge, MA.

Lemos, M., E. Boyd, E. L. Tompkins, H. Osbahr and D. Liverman (2007). Developing Adaptation and Adapting Development. Ecology and Society 12(2): 26. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss2/art26/

Lemos, M. C. and A.Agrawal (2006). Environmental Governance. AnnualReview of Environment and Natural Resources, vol. 31, pp. 297-325.