Maria Ivanova

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.