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Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.

Director, Climate, Environment & Conflict

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Please submit all media inquiries to interviews@usip.org or call 202.429.3869.

For all other inquiries, please call 202.457.1700

Dr. Tegan Blaine is the director of climate, environment & conflict at the U.S. Institute of Peace.  

Prior to joining USIP in 2020, she served as vice president on a climate change initiative at the National Geographic Society. She also led the climate change team in USAID’s Bureau for Africa for over a decade, where she developed USAID’s strategy and investment plan for its climate change work in Africa, and built and led a team that provided thought leadership and technical support to USAID’s Africa missions.

Before USAID, Dr. Blaine worked on climate change and international development at McKinsey & Company; served as a policy advisor on water at the U.S. Department of State; and taught math and physics as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania.

Dr. Blaine has a doctorate in oceanography and climate from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and bachelor’s degrees in comparative literature and mathematical ecology from Brown University. She has taught about climate change and international development at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

Publications By Tegan

Four Takeaways from the COP27 Climate Conference

Four Takeaways from the COP27 Climate Conference

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

By: Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.

Many global headlines from last year have been shaped by — or contributed to — the visible impacts of climate change. From the floods in Pakistan to the droughts in East Africa, Europe’s energy crisis, global inflation and even the war in Ukraine, the gravity of the climate crisis has come into full focus for millions of people around the world.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Environment;  Global Policy

Moving Toward a Just Transition in Green Minerals

Moving Toward a Just Transition in Green Minerals

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

By: Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.;  Chris Collins;  Claire Doyle

We need minerals to build the solar panels, wind turbines and other technologies that will decarbonize our economies — and we need a lot of them. The World Bank estimates that demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite could jump by as much as 500 percent by 2050. Yet mining for these resources has had a fraught history, and it continues to be associated with a hefty list of human rights and conflict risks, including violence, child labor, poor working conditions, land rights abuses, environmental damage and pollution, and a lack of community participation.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Environment

Tegan Blaine on the COP27 Climate Conference

Tegan Blaine on the COP27 Climate Conference

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

By: Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.

As COP27 continues in Egypt, USIP's Tegan Blaine says, "The one issue that is really beginning to explode this year is the issue of loss and damage" and support for poorer countries. "They weren't responsible for the cause, and they don’t have the resources to [address climate change] on their own."

Type: Podcast

Environment

How to Balance Hydropower and Local Conflict Risks

How to Balance Hydropower and Local Conflict Risks

Thursday, October 27, 2022

By: Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.;  Chris Collins;  Laura Leiva

In the face of rapidly expanding solar and wind energy technology, it’s easy to forget about hydropower. Hydropower was first harnessed to turn mills and grind grain, but today it generates more electricity than any other source of renewable energy. But while dams can spur development, help manage water resources and improve access to affordable electricity, their impacts on local communities and the environment can have a dark side.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Environment;  Global Policy

USIP Explains: How Climate Change Impacts U.S. Security

USIP Explains: How Climate Change Impacts U.S. Security

Thursday, September 29, 2022

By: Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.

Last year, the U.S. government released a National Intelligence Estimate focused on explaining the risks climate change poses to America’s security over the next few decades. The report examined geopolitical tensions that are emerging over how countries partner to address climate change, how countries and communities can adapt to climate change and the ramifications of climate change on access to natural resources. USIP’s Tegan Blaine discusses the report and the relationship between climate, conflict and political instability.

Type: Blog

Environment

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