Laurel DiSera
Laurel is interested in understanding how climate impacts society, especially in Latin America. She holds an MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University and, through the program, spent time in Guatemala working with the Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow Project (ACToday), the first of the Columbia World Projects. There, she strived to increase climate communication throughout the country, specifically with locals in rural regions, and she analyzed the network of those who currently participate in the climate and food security conversation in Guatemala.
Now at the IRI, Laurel is researching how Aedes-borne diseases in the Americas and worldwide are impacted by climate. She is focused on assessing and improving the skill of Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) forecasts and how these models can be used by decision makers to improve the livelihoods of their constituents. In the coming years, she hopes to focus on cross timescale interference to enhance S2S forecasting and beyond.