Kenneth Strzepek

Kenneth Strzepek is the co-project lead alongside Greg Sixt of the Jameel Index for Food Trade and Vulnerability (Jameel Index)  a new research initiative which assesses food security implications of climate change on food imports of key commodities, hosted at the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

With a 30-year career as a researcher and practitioner at the nexus of engineering, environmental and economic systems, Kenneth’s work primarily focuses on water resource planning and management, river basin planning and modelling of agricultural, environmental and water resources systems. In 2015, Kenneth was the recipient of a J-WAFS Seed Grant for his project, ‘Advancing water and food sustainability through improved understanding of uncertainties in climate change and climate variability.’

Beyond his work with J-WAFS, Kenneth is a research scientist with MIT's Joint Programme and Centre for Global Change Science. He is also Professor Emeritus of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has worked for a range of national governments as well as governmental agencies including the United Nations, the World Bank and USAID.

Kenneth has been a contributing author to the Second IPCC assessment, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the World Water Vision and the UN World Water Development Report. In 2007, he won the Nobel Peace Prize as co-author on the IPCC report on climate change. His recent publications include 'A climate change modelling framework for financial stress testing in Southern Africa' and 'Comment on 'Egypt's water budget deficit and suggested mitigation policies for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam filling scenarios''.

Kenneth took a master’s degree in economics from the University of Colorado and a PhD in water resources systems analysis from MIT.