Deborah Coen

Deborah Coen is a Professor of History & History of Science & Medicine at Yale University. She holds affiliations with the Environmental Humanities Initiative and previously served at Barnard College and Columbia University's Center for Science and Society. Her work bridges modern physical/environmental sciences and Central European intellectual history, focusing on uncertainty in scientific knowledge and environmental governance.

Education: A.B. in Physics (Harvard), M.Phil. in History and Philosophy of Science (Cambridge), Ph.D. in History of Science (Harvard). Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows.

Research Interests:

• Climate dynamics history through her landmark book Climate in Motion
• Seismology's citizen science origins in The Earthquake Observers
• Interplay between science and liberalism in Habsburg Austria
• Emerging projects on atmospheric forces and climate vulnerability critiques

Publications reflect interdisciplinary engagement with science communication and policy, including op-eds in Washington Post and Times of India. Her work has received major awards like the Pfizer Prize and Barbara Jelavich Prize.

Grants & Labs: Research clusters leadership at Columbia's Science and Society Center. Currently developing Climate Risk, a project reinterpreting atmospheric science history through feminist critiques.

Office: Yale Hall of Sciences (HQ) Room 246. Spring 2025 office hours: Mondays 2:30-3:30pm, Thursdays 3:45-5:15pm.