Patrick Keys

Dr. Patrick (Pat) Keys, affiliated faculty with the Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS), is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth & Environment at Boston University. He is also a Faculty Fellow with Computing & Data Sciences. His overarching aim is to explore how society will navigate climate and societal turbulence toward a sustainable and just future.

Keys’s research is highly interdisciplinary and is focused on a broad range of global challenges, including climate change futures, moisture recycling and society, and improving anticipation of Anthropocene change. To explore these topics, his research group uses climate data and models, societal simulations, and creative futures methods. Prior to joining Boston University, Keys served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. Previously, Keys founded an environmental consultancy that worked with local and international partners. In collaboration with different partners, he explored food security in the UAE, the link between drought and conflict in sub-Saharan Africa, and climate change adaptation and mitigation in Fort Collins.

Keys serves the scientific community in leadership activities, including as a Lead Author in the USGS Biodiversity and Climate Change Assessment, working with various UN agencies, and as the co-founder of the International Moisture Recycling Research Network.