Amanda Staudt

Prior to joining AMS, Staudt was the founding director of Climate Crossroads at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Climate Crossroads is a major initiative to harness the full complement of expertise and skills across the National Academies to tackle the climate crisis. Staudt spearheaded the launch of the Climate Crossroads Congressional Fellowship, a continuing education experience for current staff working in the U.S. Congress; the Climate Crossroads Summit, a hybrid conference held in July 2023 and July 2024; a new Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change; and a suite of activities on Coordination of Earth Observations and Data Stewardship.

From 2013-2023, Staudt directed the National Academies’ Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (BASC) and Polar Research Board (PRB), leading a team that provides advice to the U.S. government and the nation related to climate change, weather, air pollution, the Arctic, and Antarctica. Under her leadership, BASC and PRB provided stewardship for the National Academies’ ongoing advice to the U.S. Global Change Research Program; convened large workshops related to Arctic research and policy; completed major studies on extreme event attribution, Antarctic research priorities, negative emissions technologies, greenhouse gas emissions, solar geoengineering, and Earth system science; ran an Academies-wide Climate Communication Initiative; and launched major roundtables on climate security and on climate and macroeconomics.

From 2007-2013, Staudt was a Senior Climate Scientist at the National Wildlife Federation, where she focused on communicating climate science and impacts, developing the intellectual and practical foundation for climate-informed ecosystem conservation, and advancing climate change science education.

Prior to her time at NWF, she was a Senior Program Officer at the National Academies, where she directed the Climate Research Committee and a number of high-profile studies, including the fast-track review of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Strategic Plan, and studies on weather research for surface transportation, National Science Foundation’s support for atmospheric sciences, and radiative forcing effects on climate.

Staudt received her B.A. in environmental science and engineering and her Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from Harvard University.