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Director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs; Professor of Public Policy

Maria Ivanova is an expert in international environmental governance, sustainability, and the science-policy interface. She serves as the Director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, where she is a professor of Public Policy and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and policy innovation.

She is the author of The Untold Story of the World’s Leading Environmental Institution: UNEP at Fifty (MIT Press, 2021) and has published widely on global environmental governance, climate change, and the Sustainable Development Goals. Professor Ivanova’s research examines the effectiveness of international institutions, national performance on environmental conventions, and the role of small states in multilateral environmental governance. She actively collaborates with governments in East Africa.

She has received numerous honors, including the 2025 Engaged Scholar Award of the Environmental Studies Section of the International Studies Association, the Global Green Mentor Award (2023, 2024), the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship (2015), and recognition as one of 66 inaugural Foundation Fellows of the International Science Council (2022), the highest distinction awarded by the Council for contributions to science in the global public good.

Professor Ivanova was a member of the Joint Scientific Committee of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) (2020–2024) and served on the UN Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board under Ban Ki-moon (2014–2016). She is also a jury member for the Frontiers Planet Prize (2024, 2025), which awards $1 million for breakthrough research on planetary stability, and chaired the $5 million New Shape Prize (2017–2018) administered by the Global Challenges Foundation.

A recognized global thought leader, Professor Ivanova has been featured in international media and actively engages in public discussions on environmental policy. She is also working to bridge policy and the arts, collaborating with artists to raise awareness of environmental challenges. In 2022, she was part of Rwanda’s delegation to the UN Environment Assembly, negotiating the resolution for a global treaty to eliminate plastic pollution. She continues to play an active role in the treaty negotiations as head of Northeastern University’s delegation.

Professor Ivanova holds a PhD from Yale University, master’s degrees in International Relations and Environmental Management from Yale, and a BA from Mount Holyoke College. Originally from Bulgaria, she has worked at the OECD in Paris and at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency in Stockholm.

View CV
  • Appointed as one of 66 inaugural Foundational Fellows of the International Science Council in recognition of remarkable contributions to the role of science in promoting the global public good 
  • Innovation in Teaching: Community Engagement Award, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2018

Books

Selected Journal Articles

  • Andrew Carnegie Fellow, 2015
  • Member, Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to the Global Commission on Science Missions for Sustainability co-chaired by Helen Clark and Irina Bokova, 2021-present
  • Co-Chair (with Dr. Sharachchandra Lele) of drafting process for official letter from scientists and scholars of the world to the Stockholm+50 Conference, 2022
  • Co-Chair (with Professor Jim Hurrell), Task Team on Climate Intervention, World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), 2021-present
  • Chair, UN University-Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (IAS) Board, 2019-2021
    • Appointed Board member in 2014
    • Elected Chair in 2019 

Related Schools & Departments

  • Education

    PhD in International Environmental Policy, Yale University
    Master's in International Relations, Yale University
    Master's in Environmental Management, Yale University
    Bachelor of Arts in European Studies, Mount Holyoke College

  • Contact

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Maria’s Colleagues

Headshot of Barry Bluestone

Barry Bluestone

Russell B. and Andree B. Stearns Trustee Professor Emeritus of Political Economy; Founding Director of the Dukakis Center; Founding Dean of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs

Christopher Bosso

Professor of Public Policy and Political Science

Joan Fitzgerald

Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs

Headshot of Brian Helmuth

Brian Helmuth

Professor of Environmental Science and Public Policy

Timothy Hoff

Professor of Management, Healthcare Systems and Public Policy

Headshot of Dietmar Offenhuber

Dietmar Offenhuber

Professor of Design and Public Policy

John Portz Headshot

John Portz

Professor of Political Science

Gavin Shatkin

Director, MS in Urban Planning and Policy; Professor of Public Policy & Architecture

Headshot of Lori Gardinier

Lori Gardinier

Director and Teaching Professor of Human Services; Senior Research Associate, Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy

Emily Mann

Emily Mann

Teaching Professor of Human Services; Senior Research Associate, Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy

Headshot of Richard O'Bryant

Richard L. O'Bryant

Director of the John D. O'Bryant African American Institute; Research Associate of the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy; Advisory Board Member, Humanities Center

Alicia Sasser Modestino

Associate Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Economics; Research Director, Dukakis Center

Headshot of Daniel O'Brien

Daniel T. O'Brien

Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Criminology and Criminal Justice; Director, Boston Area Research Initiative; Director, PhD in Public Policy Program

Daniel Urman

Director of Hybrid and Online Programs in the School of Law; Director of the Law and Public Policy Minor

Matthew Nisbet Headshot

Matthew C. Nisbet

Professor of Communication; Affiliate faculty in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs