Kali Abel, M.S.

Visiting Instructor, Environmental Studies 

Kali Abel is geographer, glaciologist, climate scientist, and educator and has been at University of Portland as an adjunct instructor since 2017. Kali completed a bachelor's degree in environmental science at Colby College, a master's degree in geological sciences at University of Colorado, and the coursework for a Ph.D. in geography at Oregon State University. In between academic endeavors, Kali worked as a mountaineering guide, environmental consultant, journalist, independent researcher, explorer, and instructor at Portland Community College. Her current research focuses on migration as adaptation to climate change as well as multi-hazard systems involving glacier change, sea-level rise, and human adaptation primarily within Central and South America as well as the Pacific Northwest. She is passionate about the convergence of the physical and social sciences, climate change adaptation, illicit economies, climate and migration policy, climate change communication, science education, and perhaps a thousand other related and non-related topics. A primary emphasis of Kali’s work is reforming narratives surrounding climate change in an effort to better inform policy, education, and public understanding. Kali teaches numerous classes within environmental studies, including one of her own design that centers on glacier change, climate, and human adaptation. She is passionate about teaching and is grateful to be able to spend much of the year in the classroom and the remainder working in the field internationally. A Portland native, Kali has lived or worked in over a dozen different countries and is appreciative of the opportunity to now live much of the year near her home mountain range with her family and overly energetic herding dog.