Dr. Natali is committed to seeing the local and global impacts of a rapidly changing Arctic incorporated into policy. She has briefed federal lawmakers, testified before Congress, and presented her work at events associated with international climate negotiations. Dr. Natali frequently speaks with the media, and has been quoted by the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, The New Yorker, CBS News, and BBC News and has presented her work on the TED stage.
Dr. Susan Natali is an Arctic ecologist whose focus on permafrost thaw is motivated by an acute awareness of the risks it poses. She has worked extensively across the Arctic, in Alaska and Siberia, combining field research of permafrost and carbon cycling with remote sensing and modeling to assess current and future climate impacts across the Arctic.
Dr. Natali leads the Permafrost Pathways Initiative, which brings together leading experts in climate science, policy action, and environmental justice to assess the local to global impacts of permafrost thaw and other climate changes in the Arctic, in order to inform climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. She works with Indigenous communities, scientists, resource managers, and policymakers at all levels to craft just and effective strategies for limiting harm from Arctic warming.
Dr. Natali is committed to seeing both the human and climate impacts of Arctic change incorporated into public understanding and policy. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed studies, briefed federal lawmakers, contributed to international science reports and presented at several UN climate change conferences. She holds leadership and advisory roles in major multi-institution initiatives including the Permafrost Carbon Network, U.S. Advisory Council for Adaptation Science, and the International Conference on Arctic Research Planning. She was featured in the documentary film Permafrost Now, was a contributor to the award-winning book The Big Thaw, and she presented her research on the TED stage. As lead of the Polaris Project, she has mentored dozens of students in Arctic research, and she has received the Sulzman Award for excellence in education and mentoring from the American Geophysical Union.
