The following is a list of women climate scientists and activists by nationality – women who are well known for their work in the field of climatology.
Introduction Women have made major contributions to climate change research and policy and to broader analysis of global environmental issues. They include many women scientists as well as policy makers and activists. Women researchers have made significant contributions to major scientific assessments such as those of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and are reasonably well represented on key global change committees of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and US National Academy of Sciences. They have played important leadership roles in international climate policy. For example, Christiana Figueres leads the international climate negotiations as the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and former Irish President Mary Robinson is the UN Special Envoy on Climate Change. Susan Solomon chaired the climate science working group 1 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment in 2007. Since 1990, women have been playing an increasingly important role on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a key international forum.
Afghanistan Zuhal Atmar, pioneering environmentalist who ran a recycling plant Faiza Darkhani (born 1992), environmentalist, climate change scholar, and women's rights activist
Argentina Inés Camilloni (born 1964), climatologist studying climate change in South America
Australia Nerilie Abram (born 1977), researcher in climate change and paleoclimatology Tracy Ainsworth, marine biologist working on coral reefs Lisa Alexander, international expert on heatwaves Julie Arblaster, climate change researcher, contributor to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sue Barrell, meteorologist active in climate monitoring and ocean-earth observations Kirsten Benkendorff (born 1973), marine scientist working on molluscs Wendy Bowman (born c.1934), environmental activist Wendy Craik (born 1949), scientist working for the Climate Change Authority Adriana Dutkiewicz, sedimentologist at the University of Sydney Ann Henderson-Sellers (born 1952), climate change risk evaluation Taryn Lane, renewable energy expert Judith Lean, Australian-American solar and climate scientist India Logan-Riley, Māori climate activist Janice Lough, climate scientist researching coral reefs Amanda Lynch, Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Brown University and the founding director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society. She is an expert in polar climate system modelling, indigenous environmental knowledge and climate policy analysis. She is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research. Cara Augustenborg (1938–2017), Slovene-American artist and environmental activist Ann Henderson-Sellers (born 1952), earth systems scientist focusing on climatic impacts Jane McAdam (born 1974), legal expert on climate change and refugees Helen McGregor, geologist and climate change researcher, Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University Amanda McKenzie, commentator on climate change Jessica Melbourne-Thomas, marine ecologist and ecosystem modeller Sam Mostyn (born c.1964), businesswoman active in climate change Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick (born 1983), heatwave research Anjali Sharma (born 2004), child climate activist Kate Trinajstic, paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Jo Vallentine (born 1946), anti-nuclear activist Carden Wallace, marine biologist and museum director, expert on corals Shemara Wikramanayake (born 1962), businesswoman striving for low carbon emissions and renewable energy production Penny Whetton (1958–2019), regional climate change projections for Australia Katherine Woodthorpe, executive involved in bushfire and natural hazards
Belgium Margaretha Guidone (born c.1956), activist campaigning against global warming
Bolivia Ximena Vélez Liendo (born 1976), biologist focusing on the ecology of the Andean bear
Brazil Rosaly Lopes (born 1957), geologist specializing in volcanology Antônia Melo (born 1949), environmentalist and human rights activist
Cameroon Sevidzem Ernestine Leikeki (born 1985), climate activist
Canada Eriel Deranger (born 1979), indigenous rights activist intent on climate action Marie-Josée Fortin (born 1958), spatial ecology researcher Natalya Gomez, climate-ice sheet-solid earth modeler, professor at McGill University Katharine Hayhoe (born 1972), atmospheric science, global climate models Nasrin Husseini, Afghan-born refugee, food activist working on improved productivity through breeding Cindy Kenny-Gilday (born 1954), Sahtu environmentalist and Indigenous rights activist Naomi Klein (born 1970), author, filmmaker and environmental activist Melina Laboucan-Massimo, climate justice and Indigenous rights activist Corinne Le Quéré (born 1966), Royal Society research professor, University of East Anglia Deborah Martin-Downs, aquatic biologist, ecologist Line Rochefort, ecologist specializing in peatland restoration Marie Sanderson (1921–2010), geographer and climatologist
Chad Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, environmental activist and geographer
Chile Laura Gallardo (born 1962), climate scientist involved in public policy, first director of the Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR2). Adriana Hoffmann (1940–2022), environmentalist involved in the sustainable management of Chilean forests Sara Larraín (born 1962), politician and environmental activist Veronica Vallejos (born c. 1967), marine biologist and Antarctic researcher
China Chai Jing (born 1976), journalist and environmental activist producing a documentary, later banned, on pollution and environmental policy Howey Ou (born c. 2003), young activist inspired by Greta Thunberg
Colombia Xiomara Acevedo, climate change activist coordinating government policy Paola Arias, climate change researcher Martha Peralta Epieyú, politician and lawyer specializing in environmental law Aída Quilcué (fl 1990s), environmentalist and politician Diana Marcela Bolaños Rodriguez (born 1981), marine biologist studying flat worms and stem cell regeneration
Costa Rica Christiana Figueres (born 1956), diplomat specializing in international climate change negotiations Sofía Hernández Salazar (born 1998), youth human rights and environmental activist
Denmark
Inger Andersen (born 1958), economist and environmentalist working with international organizations Lone Drøscher Nielsen (born 1984), wildlife conservationist active in Borneo Inge Lehmann (1888–1993), seismologist and geophysicist Signe Normand, biologist researching vegetation in the arctic tundra
Dominican Republic Idelisa Bonnelly (1931–2022), marine biologist who created first sanctuary in the North Atlantic for humpback whales
Ecuador Anita Rivas (born 1972), lawyer and conservationist
El Salvador Johanna Segovia (born 1982), marine ecologist
Fiji Kavita Naidu, lawyer working on international climate change law
Finland Hanna Kokko (born 1971), evolutionary ecologist
France Hélène Bergès (born 1966), director of the Plant Genomic Resources Center (CNRGV), plant geneticist investigating ocean-atmospheric coupling Pascale Braconnot, climate scientist Valérie Cabanes (born 1969), lawyer and environmentalist Anny Cazenave (born 1944), geodesist researching sea level rise caused by global warming Françoise Gasse (1942–2014), paleobiologist specializing in lacustrine sediments Amaelle Landais-Israël (born 1977), climatologist researching Greenland ice and the North Atlantic Marguerite Augusta Marie Löwenhielm, mycologist studying the effectiveness of American grapevine against harmful insect pest Valerie Masson-Delmotte, focus on paleoclimatology at the Climate and Environment Sciences Laboratory (LSCE) Anaïs Orsi, climate scientist studying global warming through changes in polar ice Catherine Ritz, Antarctic researcher working on ice sheets and rise in sea level Françoise Vimeux, climatologist, research director at the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), works at the Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l'environnement (LSCE) and the Laboratoire HydroSciences Montpellier (HSM)
The Gambia
Fatou Jeng (born 1996), internationally recognized Gambian climate activist
Germany Silvia Bender (born 1970), Green party politician Nancy Bertler, Antarctic researcher investigating climate history Lina Eichler (born 2002), climate activist Sabine Fuss, climate scientist focusing on sustainable resource management Ulrike Lohmann (born 1966), climate researcher focusing on aerosol particles in clouds Katrin Meissner, German and Australian physical oceanographer and climate scientist, director of the Climate Change Research Centre at University of New South Wales Friederike Otto (born 1982), German climatologist, associate director of the Environmental Change Institute Ricarda Winkelmann (born 1985), climatologist researching interdependencies between climate, land ice and the ocean Kirsten Zickfeld, climate physicist now based in Canada
Ghana Nana Klutse (born 1981), climate scientist
Guatemala Nicole Hernandez Hammer, Guatemalan-American climate scientist studying sea level rise
Guinea-Bissau Augusta Henriques (fl. 1991), conservationist
Honduras Berta Cáceres (1971–2016), environmental activist and indigenous leader
Iceland Sigríður Tómasdóttir (1871–1957), environmentalist active in saving the Gullfoss waterfalls from industrialization
India
Sulochana Gadgil (born 1944), meteorologist studying monsoons Paramjit Khurana (born 1956), biologist specializing in plant biotechnology Sunita Narain (born 1961), environmentalist, clean energy advocate and political activist Medha Patkar (born 1964), politician, rights activist and environmentalist Disha Ravi (born 1998/99), youth climate activist
Indonesia Yuyun Ismawati (born 1964), environmental engineering involved in safe waste management involved in protecting reefs from plastic waste pollution Salsabila Khairunnisa (born 2003), youth climate activist Mia Krisna Pratiwi (born 1996), environmental engineer Swietenia Puspa Lestari (born 1994), environmental engineer
Ireland
Cara Augustenborg (born 1978), environmental scientist, also has US citizenship Karin Dubsky (born 1954), German-born marine ecologist and environmental activist Anna Kernahan, climate activist, founder of Fridays For Future Northern Ireland Tara Shine, environmental scientist, policy advisor and science communicator
Italy Simona Bordoni (born 1972), climatologist studying atmospheric dynamics in California Nicola Scafetta (born 1975), astronomer and climate scientist
Kenya
Wangari Maathai (1940–2011), environmental activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner
Laos Niane Sivongxay, zoologist specializing in zooplankton and amphibians
Madagascar Marie Christina Kolo (born 1989), climate activist Julie Hanta Razafimanahaka, conservation biologist
Marshall Islands Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner, poet and climate change activist Selina Leem, climate change activist and spoken word performer
Mexico María Elena Caso (1915–1991), biologist pioneering the study if starfish and other echinoderms Enriqueta Legorreta (1914–2010), two-time winner (2007 & 2019) of the Aguascalientes state prize for Environmental Merit Enriqueta Medellín (1948–1922), winner of Mexico's highest Ecological award, the Premio al Mérito Ecológico in 2012
Netherlands Elisabeth Gottschalk (1912–1989), investigated storm surges and river floods Saskia Ozinga (born 1960), environmental and social activist involved in forest conservation
New Zealand
Rosemary Askin (born 1949), geologist, Antarctic researcher Helen Plume, ministerial climate change expert Gillian Wratt, (born 1954), botanist and Antarctic researcher
Niger