Luis Ortiz

My research centers on advancing our understanding of how cities interact with the atmosphere in the context of a changing climate, and the impacts these interactions have on people and infrastructure. My work considers cities as complex systems of environmental, human, and engineered domains, and aims to consider all three as critical to understanding the impacts of climate change as well as adaptation and mitigation strategies. I pursue this work through a combination of high resolution dynamical and statistical modeling of urban weather & climate and climate impacts analysis across sectors.

In addition to research, I work on the translation of actionable climate science to decision-makers across a range of scales. My work in this area includes co-leading the Virginia Climate Center, serving the New York City Panel on Climate Change, and leading the planning-stage Center for Climate Risk Applications.

I earned my PhD in 2018 from the City College of New York studying building-atmosphere interactions under extreme heat. I then joined the Urban Systems Lab at The New School from 2018 to 2021, where I worked on socioeconomic impacts of climate change in cities across the Americas. Before joining George Mason University in 2022, I completed an appointment with the Office of the US Secretary of Transportation, where I worked on climate policy, environmental justice, and environmental permitting transparency.