Simon Donner

Professor

Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Department of Geography

Degrees:

PhD – Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences – University of Wisconsin

MEM – Water and Air Resources – Duke University

Contact Information

Email: simon.donner@ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-822-6959
Office location: Department of Geography, 1984 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia
Website: Simon Donner
Google Scholar: Simon Donner

Social Media

LinkedIn: @simondonner
Bluesky: @simondonner
Threads: @simondonner
YouTube: @simondonner1199
Twitter: @simondonner

Research Unit

Climate and Coastal Ecosystem Lab

Research Interests

Climate Science, Marine Heat Waves, Coral Reefs, Sea-Level Rise, El Niño, Equatorial Pacific, Small Island Developing States, Climate Change Adaptation, Kelp Systems, Numerical Modelling

Biography

I grew up in the diverse city of Toronto where even in the dead of winter, I was often packed in a baby carriage and left outside to sleep. Since then, I have been interested in the human, societal, and environmental impacts of climate and climate change. Today, I am an interdisciplinary climate scientist that teaches and conduct research at the intersection of climate science, marine science, and policy. I hold appointments in UBC’s Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, Geography Department, and Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. I also direct the university’s Climate Solutions Research Collective, which catalyses solutions-oriented climate research.

Being a scientist and a professor at a public institution, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to engage my curiosity about the world for a living. With that opportunity, comes responsibility. I regularly volunteer to translate climate change science for the public and policymakers via government hearings, community events, radio and television appearances, and sometimes, by filming videos about climate change while cycling to work.

Due to a lifelong love of watersports, my spouse says I’m like an aquatic plant – I need sun and water to thrive. After the start of the pandemic, we dipped into the cold ocean near our Vancouver home every day for over a year.

Teaching

GEOG 312: Climate Change Science and Society
GEOG 314: Analysing Enivonrmental Problems
ENVR 440: Analytical Methods in Sustainability Science

Selected Publications

Scott TJ, White R, Donner SD (2026). Summers over land and ocean are becoming longer, transitioning faster, and accumulating more heat. Environmental Research Letters, doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ae5724

Spencer T, Magnan AK, Donner SD, Garschagen M, Ford J, Duvat VK, Wabnitz CC (2024). Habitability of low-lying socio-ecological systems under a changing climate. Climatic Change, 177(1)

Li, X, Donner SD (2023) Assessing future projections of warm-season marine heatwave characteristics with three CMIP6 models. Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, doi.org/10.1029/2022JC019253
Cornwall C, Comeau S, Donner SD et al. (2023) Coral adaptive capacity insufficient to halt global transition of coral reefs into net erosion under climate change. Global Change Biology, doi: 10.1111/gcb.16647

Virgen-Urcelay A, Donner SD (2023). Increase in the extent of mass coral bleaching over the past half-century, based on an updated global database. PLoS-One, 18(23), p.e0281719

González-Espinosa PC, Donner SD (2023) Cloudiness delays projected impact of climate change on coral reefs. PLoS Climate, 2(2), e0000090.

Summers S, Donner SD (2022). Investigating the ability of coral reefs to protect shorelines in the Republic of Kiribati. Coral Reefs, 41(2), 369-82

Findlater K, Webber S, Kandlikar M, Donner SD (2021) Climate services promise better decisions but mainly focus on better data, Nature Climate Change doi.org:10.1038/s41558-021-01125-3

Logan C, Dunne J, Ryan JS, Baskett ML, Donner SD (2021) Quantifying global potential for coral evolutionary response to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 11, 537–542

Donner SD, Carilli J (2019) Resilience of Central Pacific coral reefs subject to frequent heat stress and human disturbance. Scientific Reports, 9 (3484), DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-40150-3

Donner SD (2017) Publicity or Perish: Finding the balance in science communication. Biogeochemistry, DOI 10.1007/s10533-017-0344-7

Donner SD, Kandlikar M, Webber S (2016) Measuring and tracking the flow of climate change adaptation aid to the developing world. Environmental Research Letters, 11 (5), 054006, DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/11/5/054006

Donner SD (2015) The legacy of migration in response to climate stress: learning from the Gilbertese resettlement in the Solomon Islands. Natural Resources Forum, 39, 191-201, DOI: 10.1111/1477-8947.12082

Donner SD (2014) Finding your place on the Science-Advocacy continuum. Climatic Change, 124 (1-2), 1–8, DOI: 10.1007/s10584-014-1108-1