Elisabeth Cohen

Elisabeth (Lis) Cohen is a leading climate communicator with more than 25 years of experience spanning science, government, teaching, and training. Now Senior Program Manager for the Talking Climate Collaborative, she bridges science, policy, and public understanding to make complex climate issues accessible to varied audiences.

Previously, Lis led the Adaptation and Resiliency Team for the City and County of Denver, where her team won the 2024 Peak Academy Community Collaboration Award for the Heat Summit Series, and she received Denver’s 2023 Equity Champion Award. She served two years as Commissioner of Education and Engagement for the American Meteorological Society, and during that period was also an elected delegate and board member of her local neighborhood organization.

Lis is a scientist at COMET/University Corporation of Atmospheric Research, training scientists, engineers, and practitioners on weather, climate, and hydrologic sciences. She previously served as science communications manager at NOAA in Boulder, taught graduate and undergraduate courses on climate change impacts and risks at Texas Tech University — often co-instructing with Dr. Katharine Hayhoe — and served as education and training specialist for the National Park Service’s Climate Change Response Program (2012–2014).

Lis holds a master’s in public affairs with a climate and environmental policy focus from Princeton University, where between years she worked on the climate adaptation team at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She also holds a master’s in meteorology from the University of Utah — where her research examined clouds’ effects on climate — and prior to Princeton taught at the University of Utah and worked in the Utah Governor’s Office on energy and climate policy.

Earlier in her career, Lis worked as a science educator, presenter, and exhibit planner at the Museum of Science in Boston, the Franklin Institute, the Blue Hill Weather Observatory, and Yellowstone National Park. She was also a reporter for Climate Central and a columnist for the Satellite Educator’s Newsletter.

Lis earned her bachelor’s degree at Cornell University, double-majoring in Atmospheric Science and Science of Earth Systems with a Climate Dynamics concentration, and worked on the Mars Exploration Rovers while there.