Ilissa Ocko
Senior Climate Scientist
Work
Ilissa Ocko is a climate scientist at Environmental Defense Fund. She researches the implications of short-lived climate pollutants on climate change and provides scientific guidance for climate-related work.
Background
Ilissa Ocko employs climate models to explore how short-lived climate pollutants, such as methane and black carbon, influence various climate conditions. Ilissa also works to improve metrics that compare climate impacts of various mitigation strategies. She holds a certificate in environmental policy from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School, has done scientific illustrations for groups like Climate Central and Weather Underground, and as an undergraduate she was a weather anchor on the university’s television network.
Education
- Ph.D. and M.A., Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University
- B.S.E., Earth System Science and Engineering, University of Michigan — Ann Arbor
Publications
Ocko, IB, SP Hamburg, Climate Impacts of Hydropower: Enormous Differences among Facilities and over Time, Environ. Sci. Tech., 53(23), 14070-14082 (2019)
Ivanovich, CC, IB Ocko, P Piris-Cabezas, A Petsonk, Climate benefits of proposed carbon dioxide mitigation strategies for international shipping and aviation, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19(23), 14949-14965 (2019)
Ocko, IB, V Naik, D Paynter, Rapid and reliable assessment of methane impacts on climate, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15555-15568, doi:10.5194/acp-18-15555-2018 (2018)
Ocko, IB, SP Hamburg, DJ Jacob, DW Keith, NO Keohane, M Oppenheimer, JD Roy-Mayhew, DP Schrag, SW Pacala, Unmask temporal trade-offs in climate policy debates, Science, 356, 6337, p.492-493 (2017)
Ocko, IB, and PA Ginoux (2017), Comparing multiple model-derived aerosol optical properties to spatially collocated ground-based and satellite measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4451-4475, doi:10.5194/acp-17-4451-2017.
Ocko, IB, V Ramaswamy, Y Ming (2014), Contrasting climates responses to the scattering and absorbing features of anthropogenic aerosol forcings, J. Clim., 27, 5329-5345, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00401.1
Ocko, IB, V Ramaswamy, P Ginoux, Y Ming, and LW Horowitz (2012), Sensitivity of scattering and absorbing aerosol direct radiative forcing to physical climate factors, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D20203, doi:10.1029/2012JD018019.
Ocko, IB, Hot Seat in Our Warming World, Science, 337, 6092, p. 296, doi:10.1126/science.1224878 (2012)
Bankuti, M, B Ellis, M Frades, D Kanter, J Losh, I Ocko, J Roy-Mayhew, P Shevlin, C Sierawski, A Wasserman, J Zuckerman, D Mauzerall, Complements to carbon: Opportunities for near-term action on non-CO2 climate forcers, Policy Report, Princeton University (2011)
Latest pieces
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What you need to know about hurricanes and climate change
August 27, 2020
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Long considered a “clean” energy source, hydropower can actually be bad for climate
November 15, 2019
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Record-warm oceans: How worried should we be?
February 22, 2019
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How can half a degree of warming matter so much?
October 18, 2018
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UN Special Report confirms urgent need to reduce methane emissions
October 11, 2018
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Hansen was right: Marking an anniversary by misleading the public
July 18, 2018
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Industry-backed white paper low-balls oil & gas methane impact
February 28, 2018
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New science suggests methane packs more warming power than previously thought
February 7, 2018
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Natural disasters are no longer purely natural
January 16, 2018
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It’s now, it’s us, it’s not over – the top 7 takeaways from the new climate change report
November 15, 2017