Victoria Keener

Biography

Dr. Victoria Keener is a Research Professor at Arizona State University, a Senior Research Fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai`i, and the Co-Lead Principal Investigator of the Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences & Assessments (Pacific RISA) program. Dr. Keener does interdisciplinary research enabling practical applications of climate science for decision making at the local and regional scale in Hawai`i and the Pacific Islands, specializing in freshwater hydrology. Her modeling work uses multivariate time-series analysis and varied spectral methods to identify dominant climate trends in hydrological variables and how they change through time.

As the Co-Lead Principal Investigator of Pacific RISA, Dr. Keener coordinates an interdisciplinary team of social and physical scientists that aims to reduce the vulnerability of Pacific Island communities to climate change by translating academic research into actionable knowledge for a variety of stakeholders at the local, state, and regional level. The Pacific RISA program strives to enhance knowledge and capacity to sustainably manage freshwater resources in Hawai`i and the Pacific Islands. Projects include producing seasonal downscaled climate and hydrological projections to estimate future water availability; assessing stakeholders’ decision-support needs and their capacity to use seasonal forecasts; identifying opportunities for adaptive measures within the existing law and policy framework in Hawai`i; and peer-to-peer learning networks as a method to build climate resilience. She was the Lead Author of the Hawai`i  and Pacific Islands Chapter of the 4th US-National Climate Assessment and directs the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) network and reports. She was appointed to the City & County of Honolulu Climate Change Commission in 2018 and has served as Chair since June 2020.

Dr. Keener received her Ph.D. in 2010 in Agricultural & Biological Engineering from the University of Florida, specializing in hydro-climatological research dealing with the effects of climate variability and the El-Nino/Southern Oscillation on freshwater pollutant loads.