Katharine Jacobs is a professor of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona and
Director of the Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions, focused on building
adaptation and assessment capacity at multiple scales. From 2010 – 2013, Jacobs worked in the
Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House. She was director of the Third
National Climate Assessment, and the lead advisor on water science, policy, and adaptation.
From 2006-2009 Jacobs was Executive Director of the Arizona Water Institute, a consortium of
Arizona’s three universities focused on water sustainability. She worked 23 years for the Arizona
Department of Water Resources, including 15 as the director of the Tucson Active Management
Area. She was engaged in multiple aspects of implementing Arizona’s Groundwater
Management Act, including development of water conservation programs and the Assured Water
Supply Rules. Jacobs earned her M.L.A. in environmental planning from Berkeley.