Erin Coughlan de Perez

Research Director and Associate Professor

CBF Professor

Associate Professor, Friedman School

Contact

Working with Feinstein since 2021

Based in Boston, MA

Dr. Erin Coughlan de Perez is a climate scientist whose work advances climate risk management by integrating science, policy, and practice to better anticipate and mitigate disasters such as droughts, floods, and heatwaves. She spearheaded the rise of Anticipatory Action, pioneering Forecast‑based Financing (FbF) and developing innovative early warning and early action systems that help humanitarian organizations respond proactively to extreme weather events. Her research also examines how climate change adaptation measures can be effectively implemented across diverse global contexts.

Dr. Coughlan de Perez heads several global research initiatives. She directs the Center for Climate and Health glObal Research on Disasters (CORD), a global consortium of seven universities collaborating on climate, health, and Anticipatory Action. Additionally, she leads a NASA-funded project investigating unprecedented extreme weather events in the United States, in partnership with the American Red Cross.

Before joining Tufts University, Dr. Coughlan de Perez was at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, where she established a global climate science team and pioneered Forecast-based Financing. She continues to serve as a technical advisor at the Climate Centre, maintaining vital connections to humanitarian operations worldwide.

Dr. Coughlan de Perez earned her PhD from VU University Amsterdam, her MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and her BSc in Environmental Science and International Development from McGill University. She was a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report. Additionally, she serves as an academic editor for the journal PLOS Climate and serves on the Climate Science Advisory Panel for the state of Massachusetts.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Disaster risk management
Climate change adaptation
Forecast-based Financing

REGIONAL FOCUS

COURSES TAUGHT

NUTR 256 Climate Change: Risk and Adaptation for Food Systems and Beyond

MOST CITED BOOKS & ARTICLES

De Perez, E. C., Van Den Hurk, B., Van Aalst, M. K., Jongman, B., Klose, T., & Suarez, P. (2015). Forecast-based financing: an approach for catalyzing humanitarian action based on extreme weather and climate forecasts. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 15(4), 895–904. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-15-895-2015
De Perez, E. C., Van Den Hurk, B., Van Aalst, M. K., Amuron, I., Bamanya, D., Hauser, T., Jongma, B., Lopez, A., Mason, S., De Suarez, J. M., Pappenberger, F., Rueth, A., Stephens, E., Suarez, P., Wagemaker, J., & Zsoter, E. (2016). Action-based flood forecasting for triggering humanitarian action. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 20(9), 3549–3560. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-3549-2016
Gros, C., Bailey, M., Schwager, S., Hassan, A., Zingg, R., Uddin, M. M., Shahjahan, M., Islam, H., Lux, S., Jaime, C., & De Perez, E. C. (2019). Household-level effects of providing forecast-based cash in anticipation of extreme weather events: Quasi-experimental evidence from humanitarian interventions in the 2017 floods in Bangladesh. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 41, 101275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101275
Reckien, D., Magnan, A. K., Singh, C., Lukas-Sithole, M., Orlove, B., Schipper, E. L. F., & De Perez, E. C. (2023). Navigating the continuum between adaptation and maladaptation. Nature Climate Change, 13(9), 907–918. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01774-6
De Perez, E. C., Van Aalst, M., Choularton, R., Van Den Hurk, B., Mason, S., Nissan, H., & Schwager, S. (2019). From rain to famine: assessing the utility of rainfall observations and seasonal forecasts to anticipate food insecurity in East Africa. Food Security, 11(1), 57–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-018-00885-9

MOST RECENT EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS

Kelder, T., Heinrich, D., Klok, L., Thompson, V., Goulart, H. M. D., Hawkins, E., Slater, L. J., Suarez-Gutierrez, L., Wilby, R. L., De Perez, E. C., Stephens, E. M., Burt, S., Van Den Hurk, B., De Vries, H., Van Der Wiel, K., Schipper, E. L. F., Baéz, A. C., Van Bueren, E., & Fischer, E. M. (2025). How to stop being surprised by unprecedented weather. Nature Communications, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57450-0
Masukwedza, G. I. T., Clark, J., Jaffe, A., Jeffries, I., Tietjen, B., & De Perez, E. C. (2025). Storylines of unprecedented extremes in the Southeast United States. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-23-0297.1
Mojaki, R. A., Marake, M. V., Easton-Calabria, E., Marunye, J. R., & De Perez, E. C. (2024). Socio-economic assessment of drought impacts in Lesotho: implications for early action. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijccsm-12-2023-0150
Weiss, S., & De Perez, E. C. (2024). An analysis of observed and predicted extreme heat and precipitation trends across four pulse producing regions in North America: North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan, and Northeastern United States. Environmental Research: Food Systems. https://doi.org/10.1088/2976-601x/ad8bc7
Popat, M., Rathod, K., Artur, L., De Perez, E. C., Sharma, A., Beca, N., & Van Sant, C. (2024). Anticipatory actions: lessons from the storm Ana in Mocuba district, Mozambique. Journal of International Humanitarian Action, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41018-024-00162-9