A Lifetime of Environmental Work
My career in research has crossed disciplines and included several academic leadership roles before coming to the Institute on the Environment. My work has helped lead to an important paradigm shift in ecology and natural resource management, showing that adaptation – living with climate change – is just as crucial to the future of humanity and Earth’s ecosystems as slowing and stopping greenhouse gas emissions.
Additionally, my work has led to the creation of a private venture, Geofinancial Analytics, that monitors methane emissions for investors in publicly-traded companies.
- Executive Director and Ecolab Chair for Environmental Leadership, IonE
- Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, College of Biological Sciences
- Consortium Director, Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center
- Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Geofinancial Analytics
- University of Notre Dame (2003–15)
Learn more about my work with Geofinancial Analytics.
- PhD, Stanford University
- BS, Ecology, University of Michigan
- Elected Fellow, Ecological Society of America (2021)
- Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2020)
- Leopold Leadership Fellow (2011) and Leshner Fellow (2016–17)
- COMPASS
- National Audubon Society
- Population Health Initiative, University of Washington
- The Nature Conservancy of Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota
- Underwriters Laboratories Research Institutes
- Past service: Great Plains Institute (2016–22); Science Museum of Minnesota (2018–25); National Sustainability Society (2022–24, founding member)
My Story
What do you get when your grandparents are farmers, your dad is an engineer involved in the adoption of electric vehicles in the auto industry, and you grow up around the Great Lakes? Apparently, an enormous passion to work across disciplines to save this beautiful planet we have.
Everyone’s story is unique. And how we all contribute to sustainability will be impacted in large part by where we come from. I believe in the power of ideas, the capacity of forward-looking people, and the importance of being good stewards to the planet and to one another
When I’m not working on sustainable solutions, I enjoy long-distance running, exploring the woods and waters of Minnesota, and hanging out with my friends and family, including my daughter Ada. If I had more free time, I’d be out on a sailboat.
At IonE, we are building a future where people and planet prosper together through goal-oriented, interdisciplinary research and our work to develop sustainability leaders, foster critical dialogues and share inspiring stories worldwide.
Jessica Hellmann
IonE Executive Director
Building Climate Solutions in the Midwest
My research focuses on global change ecology, climate adaptation and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. I was among the first to propose and study ways to reduce the impact of climate change through new techniques in conservation management.
In 2021, I was part of the team funded to lead a new regional Climate Adaptation Science Center. We work with universities, Tribal organizations, nonprofits, and the U.S. Geological Survey to deliver practical climate science for the Midwest.
Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center
A regional collaboration helping fish, water, wildlife, land and people adapt to a changing climate.
Research Program
Addressing Resource Challenges in the Midwest
The Midwest is facing significant challenges related to climate change, including more frequent and more intense flooding and drought, the loss of winter and altered wildlife habitat. The Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC) pursues science that state, federal, local, and Tribal decision-makers can use to effectively manage resources in a changing world.
A collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Midwest CASC is made up of a consortium of research institutions hosted by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities at the Institute on the Environment. Additional partner institutions include College of Menominee Nation, Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, Indiana University, Michigan State University, The Nature Conservancy, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Minnesota Duluth and University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Meet the University Team
Project Leads
Executive Director
Department of Environment, Sustainability & Geography
Associate Professor, Department of Forest Resources; Affiliate Faculty, Department of American Indian Studies
Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology
Research Assistant
Communications Manager
Program Manager
In the News
Feature Story
IonE Biodiversity Workshop Series Encourages Cross-Sector Collaboration
Rampant consumption is eating up natural resources and ecosystems at an unprecedented rate, with no signs of slowing down. We see the consequences of this in headlines every day: mega fires, trash islands, warming winters, the insect apocalypse. The planet is losing more species and habitat than ever due to human behavior. In short, we’re in a biodiversity crisis.
How Do We Adapt?
On the TedX stage, I challenged us to consider how we survive, and thrive, in the age of climate change.
Curriculum Vitae
For Students
Students can study with me from the Graduate Program in Conservation Science (Ph.D. or masters) or the Graduate Program in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior in the College of Biological Sciences (Ph.D.). I am also open to co-advising with other faculty at the University of Minnesota, particularly with folks in the EEB graduate faculty. I also serve on the committee of several graduate students in these programs, and you might want to consider me as a committee member (rather than an advisor) if you are admitted to one of these programs.
Cons Sci and EEB differ in the way that students receive financial support and the focus of student work. They also have slightly different admission requirements. You’ll want to have a look at the individual programs and see which would be a better fit for you. Do know that admission to the University of Minnesota for graduate school in all of these programs is very competitive, requiring a strong undergraduate GPA and substantive research or other related experience.
Graduate students working with me would pursue a project aligned with one or both of the following:
- The ecological effects of climate change. This could include, for example, research on how climate change affects species’ interactions and therefore the dynamics of species within ecosystems, or the role of evolutionary history in determining the response of species to changing climate. I’ve published quite a bit on these topics over the couple of decades (see above <jump link: accordion>), particularly with an emphasis on insects or plants. This research can involve field work, remotely sensed data, genomics, mathematical models or other tools. Warming experiments, for example, have been a hallmark of much of my past research.
I expect any student working on ecology and climate change to also consider how management strategies (i.e., climate change adaptation) can overcome negative consequences of climate for species of conservation importance or species providing essential ecosystem services. - Strategies for conserving biodiversity under climate change. We will need to manage natural ecosystems in new ways to reduce the effects of climate change, and discovering ways of doing that effectively is the purpose of a research center I direct called the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (MW CASC).
I seek students who will interact with the MW CASC and define a research project that explores how adaptation techniques can reduce biodiversity loss and increase ecosystem services. This research could involve modeling or synthesis from the literature and existing data sets; it could also involve techniques from social science and management science in ways that interfaces with ecology. This research should involve collaboration with landowners, managers, and other officials — and the CASC will facilitate those connections.
I also have a variety of other research interests that graduate students working with me would have exposure to, but I’m not seeking student projects in these areas. This includes environmental monitoring to drive greenhouse gas emission reduction; this work is associated with Geofinancial Analytics. I’m also involved in collaborative research on climate and human health via the Mni Sota Center for Weather and Health and in developing methods that measure and track private-sector commitments to biodiversity conservation, an effort arising from the Midwest Carbon Leadership Project.
Regardless of research focus, students working with me should have a high degree of intellectual curiosity, an excellent track record, and an ability to seek counsel from a wide range of collaborators and other experts. I also expect students to work with me to seek external funding for research during their graduate studies. (Before starting grad school, you should check out and apply for a NSF graduate fellowship.) Grant-writing is a key part of being a scholar, whether one works for a NGO, government, corporation or a university, and the ability to articulate research goals and methods is essential to research excellence.
Connect With Me
For appointments and other assistance, contact Executive Assistant Kata Hahn.