Kelley De Polt
Research group Hydrology-Biosphere-Climate Interactions
Intern. Max Planck Research School for Global Biogeochemical Cycles (IMPRS-gBGC)
Main Focus
Kelley De Polt is a PhD researcher in the Department of Biogeochemical Integration at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry and an external PhD candidate with the Water & Climate Risk group at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She holds a B.Sc. in Meteorology and an M.Sc. in Geography, complemented by experience at applied climate research and service centers.
Her research focuses on advancing the understanding and modelling of the dynamics of risk components in the context of (multi-hazard) heatwaves and their corresponding societal and environmental impacts. This work is conducted within the scope of the MYRIAD-EU project, where she served as the 2nd Early Career Research Board Chair, aiming to improve multi-hazard, multi-sector, systemic risk assessment and management. In addition, Kelley co-leads the RiskKAN working group on AI for complex climate risk mitigation.
She applies these insights to inform strategies for resilience, adaptation, and risk reduction. Beyond research, Kelley actively engages in science communication, outreach, and Early Career Researcher empowerment.
Latest Updates / Highlights:
- Kelley authored a blog post for the EGU Natural Hazards Division reflecting on ways to support Early Career Researchers. The post, "How can we encourage and empower Early Career Researchers? Reflections on a short course held at EGU 2025," shares insights from a short course she co-organized at EGU 2025.
- Kelley participated in a video interview/discussion on the Latest Thinking platform titled "How Can We Redefine Natural Hazards Through Societal and Health Responses?." In this discussion, she explores the evolving understanding of heatwaves, emphasizing the integration of societal and health perspectives to inform more effective disaster risk management strategies.
- EGU 2026 abstract submission is open! Kelley co-convenes the session "Early Warning Systems (EWS): From Science to Action for Effective Disaster Risk Reduction" (ITS4.24/NH13.8). Submit abstracts here.
Curriculum Vitae
Professional Positions
- Doctoral Researcher, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany (Since 01/2022)
- Graduate Research Assistant, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA (01/2020–12/2021)
- Graduate Research Assistant, North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, Asheville, North Carolina, USA (05/2021–12/2021)
- Undergraduate Research Assistant, State Climate Office of North Carolina, Asheville, North Carolina, USA (05/2016–12/2019)
Education
- External Ph.D. Candidate, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Since 01/2022)
- M.Sc. Geography; Masters Certificate Equivalence in GIS, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA (01/2020–12/2021)
- B.Sc. Meteorology; Computer Programming Minor, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA (08/2015–12/2019)
Publications
2025
Uckan, Y., Ruiz-Vásquez, M., De Polt, K., & Orth, R. (2025). Global relevance of atmospheric and land surface drivers for hot temperature extremes. Earth System Dynamics, 16, 869–889. (https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-869-2025)
Leeper, R. D., Harrington, T., Palecki, M. A., De Polt, K., Scott, E., Runkle, J., & Diamond, H. J. (2025).
The Influence of Drought on Heat Wave Intensity, Duration, and Exposure.
J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 64(5), 425–438. (https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-24-0072.1)
2024
Sewell, K., Paul, S., De Polt, K., Sugg, M. M., Leeper, R. D., Rao, D., & Runkle, J. D. (2024). Impacts of compounding drought and heatwave events on child mental health: insights from a spatial clustering analysis. Discov. Ment. Health, 4(1). (https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-023-00055-0)
Bogdanovich, E., Brenning, A., Reichstein, M., De Polt, K., Guenther, L., Frank, D., & Orth, R. (2024). Official heat warnings miss situations with a detectable societal heat response in European countries. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct., 100, 104206. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.104206)
2023
De Polt, K., Ward, P. J., de Ruiter, M., Bogdanovich, E., Reichstein, M., Frank, D., & Orth, R. (2023). Quantifying impact-relevant heatwave durations. Environ. Res. Lett., 18, 104005. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf05e)
2021
Curtis, S., De Polt, K., Kruse, J., Mukherji, A., Helgeson, J., Ghosh, A., & Van Wagoner, P. (2021). Spatially Compounded Surge Events: An Example from Hurricanes Matthew and Florence. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 21(6), 1759–1767. (https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-1759-2021/)
2020
Chappell, T., Ward, R., De Polt, K., Roberts, P., Greene, J., & Kennedy, G. (2020). Thrips Infestation Predictor: A practical tool for predicting tobacco thrips (Frankliniella fusca) infestation of cotton seedlings in the southeastern United States. Pest Manag. Sci., 76(12), 4018–4028. (https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.5954)
Kunkel, K. E., Easterling, D. R., Ballinger, A., Bililign, S., Champion, S. M., Corbett, D. R., Dello, K. D., Dissen, J., Lackmann, G. M., Luettich Jr., R. A., Perry, L. B., Robinson, W. A., Stevens, L. E., Stewart, B. C., & Terando, A. J. (2020).
North Carolina Climate Science Report. North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies.
(https://ncics.org/programs/nccsr/)
* Served as technical contributor
Forthcoming
De Polt, K., Dormann, C. F., Ward, P. J., de Ruiter, M. C., Runkle, J. D., Wutzler, T., Reichstein, M., & Orth, R. (2025). Regional Differences in the Impact of Heat and Moisture on Public Health within Europe. ESS Open Archive. ( https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.174282873.38972040/v1 )
Schlumberger, J*., De Polt, K.*, Claassen, J. N., et al. (2025). Empowering ECRs to make research projects flourish: lessons from a European research project [version 1; peer review: 1 approved with reservations]. Open Res Europe, 5:312. (https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.21517.1)
* These authors contributed equally.
Tiggeloven, T., Raymond, C., de Ruiter, M. C., Sillmann, J., Thieken, A. H., Buijs, S. L., Ciurean, R., Cordier, E., Crummy, J. M., Cumiskey, L., De Polt, K., Duncan, M., Ferrario, D. M., Jäger, W. S., Koks, E. E., van Maanen, N., Murdock, H. J., Mysiak, J., Nirandjan, S., Poschlod, B., Priesmeier, P., Sairam, N., Schweizer, P.–J., Stolte, T. R., Zenker, M.–L., Daniell, J. E., Fekete, A., Geiß, C. M., van den Homberg, M. J. C., Juhola, S. K., Kuhlicke, C., Lebek, K., Šakić Trogrlić, R., Schneiderbauer, S., Torresan, S., van Westen, C. J., Claassen, J. N., Khazai, B., Murray, V., Schlumberger, J., & Ward, P. J. (2025). Reflections and Future Directions for Multi-Hazard Risk in the Context of the Sendai Framework and Discussions Beyond. EGUsphere (preprint). (https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2771)