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Amy Luers

Affiliate Professor, Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University
Amy Luers is affiliate professor at Concordia University and Global Lead for Sustainability Science at Microsoft. Previously, she was Executive Director for Future Earth, the Assistant Director for Climate Resilience and Information at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Senior Environment Program Manager at Google. Before that she led the climate program at the Union of Concerned Sciences California Office. Luers started her career in Latin America as co-founder and the first executive director of Agua Para La Vida (Water for Life), working with rural communities to enhance access to potable water.

She has published in both academic journals and in the popular media on issues related to vulnerability to global environmental change, data, sustainability, climate policy, and science communication. A respected scientist and data innovator, Luers has been recognized as a PopTech fellow, a Switzer Environmental Fellow, Heinz Environmental Scholar, and has been a leader in advising the California state government, the White House, and the United Nation on topics related to the intersection of research, policy and data. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served on committees of the National Academies of Sciences. Luers holds a Ph.D. in environmental science and an M.A. in international policy studies, from Stanford University; a B.S. and M.S. in environmental systems engineering from Humboldt State University; and a B.A. in philosophy from Middlebury College.

Climate Change Series

Temporary carbon storage in forests has climate value — but we need to get the accounting right

Sep 29, 2023 08:49 am UTC| Science

Forests and other natural carbon reservoirs play an important role in slowing and potentially reversing the effects of climate change. But any carbon stored in nature is vulnerable to either natural or human-caused...

Economy

Trump Unleashes 104% Tariff Barrage on China

President Trump ramped up the trade war with China on April 9, 2025, by raising tariffs on Chinese imports to a total of 104%. The hike is an additional 50% tariff on top of existing tariffs, a dramatic ramp-up of the...

Asian Stocks Rebound on Tech Rally Despite Trade War Worries

Asian stock markets rebounded modestly on Tuesday following sharp losses in the previous session, as a rally in U.S. tech stocks and bargain-hunting lifted investor sentiment. Most major regional indices climbed, even as...

Nikkei Soars 6.5% as Wall Street Recovery Spurs Market Rebound

Japans Nikkei share average surged 6.5% on Tuesday, rebounding sharply from a 1.5-year low hit in the previous session. The rally was driven by investor confidence sparked by signs of a U.S. market recovery and optimism...

Trade Wars Heat Up: EU and China Push Back Against US Tariffs

The European Union is in trade talks with the United States to ease trade tensions and has concluded a zero-for-zero tariff agreement on industrial products. The proposal is for reciprocal removal of tariffs, but the EU is...

Taiwan Open to U.S. Tariff Talks Amid Market Volatility

Taiwans Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung stated Tuesday that the island is ready to engage in tariff negotiations with the United States at any time, aiming to ease trade tensions that recently rocked financial markets. His...

Politics

Vice Admiral Chatfield Fired Amid Trump’s Pentagon Shake-Up

U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, a top NATO representative and one of the Navys few female three-star officers, has been dismissed, according to sources cited by Reuters. Though the Pentagon has not officially...

DHS Offers Voluntary Resignation and Buyouts Up to $25K Amid Workforce Shift

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is offering employees voluntary resignation, early retirement, or buyouts of up to $25,000 as part of a new workforce transition initiative. According to an internal memo sent...

DOJ Repeals Biden-Era Gun Dealer Policy Amid Controversy

The U.S. Department of Justice has repealed a Biden-era zero tolerance policy that mandated the revocation of licenses for gun dealers who willfully committed serious violations, including failing to conduct background...

UN World Food Program Urges Reinstatement of US Funding Amid Global Hunger Crisis

The UN World Food Program (WFP) has raised alarm after the US administration abruptly ended emergency food assistance funding for 14 countries. As the worlds largest provider of food aid, the WFP warns that the cuts could...

U.S. and India Discuss Trade Tariffs Amid Ongoing Bilateral Deal Talks

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held a phone call on Monday to address escalating trade tensions, focusing on U.S. tariffs on Indian imports and efforts toward a fair...

Science

AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi Gets US Approval for Bladder Cancer Treatment

AstraZenecas drug Imfinzi (NASDAQ: AZN) has received U.S. approval to treat adult patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, a significant advancement in cancer therapy. The approval allows Imfinzi to be used in...

Sanofi’s New Hemophilia Drug Qfitlia Gains FDA Approval with Breakthrough Bimonthly Dosing

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Qfitlia, a groundbreaking hemophilia treatment by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY). Designed for patients aged 12 and older with hemophilia A or B,...

FDA Vaccine Chief Peter Marks Resigns Amid Controversy Over Transparency

Peter Marks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) top vaccine official, has resigned after reportedly being forced out by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to The Wall Street Journal....

What are the chances an asteroid will impact Earth in 2032?

For a few days in mid-February, headlines around the world buzzed about the potential for an asteroid to hit the Earth in 2032 specifically, asteroid 2024 YR4. The chance of this impact rose to a high of 3.1 per cent on...

A new study reveals the structure of violent winds 1,300 light years away

The planet WASP-121b is extreme. Its a gas giant almost twice as big as Jupiter orbiting extremely close to its star50 times closer than the Earth does around the Sun. WASP-121b is so close to its star that tidal forces...

Technology

Telegram Fined $80K by Moscow Court for Extremist Content Refusal

A Moscow court has fined Telegram Messenger Inc. 7 million roubles (approximately $80,000) for refusing to remove content allegedly promoting extremist activities, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Court...

Meta Unveils Llama 4 Maverick and Scout, Boosts AI Ambitions

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) has unveiled its latest AI modelsLlama 4 Maverick and Llama 4 Scoutcalling them its most advanced large language models (LLMs) to date. Designed as multimodal AI systems, they can process and...

Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI Heads to Jury Trial in 2026

Elon Musks high-profile lawsuit against OpenAI is set for a jury trial in spring 2026, as ruled by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The case centers on Musks...

Intel, TSMC Eye Joint Venture Amid U.S. Chip Industry Crisis

Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) are in early talks to form a joint venture to manage Intels U.S. chip factories, according to The Information. TSMC is expected to take a 20% stake in the new entity....

SpaceX, ULA, and Blue Origin Win $13.5B in Space Force Launch Contracts

The U.S. Space Force has awarded $13.5 billion in rocket launch contracts through 2029 to SpaceX, United Launch Alliance (ULA), and Blue Origin under its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 program. This...