Dan Rizza

Dan Rizza leads Climate Central's external engagement with government officials, communities, practitioners, and other decision-makers working to understand and respond to climate risk. Within that work, he has long focused on equipping coastal stakeholders with the tools, information, and products necessary to understand, communicate, visualize, and respond to sea level rise and coastal flooding, while also underscoring the importance of mitigating their drivers. Dan frequently presents at conferences across the country and internationally, and has represented Climate Central in forums such as a White House-hosted roundtable on flood resilience technology.

Climate Central's sea level rise research and tools have been used by millions of people worldwide, featured at UN Climate Conferences, and covered by major U.S. and international media outlets, including Reuters, USA Today, CNBC, The New York Times, The Economist, BBC News, and The Telegraph. Dan engages directly with the decision-makers who use these tools to help shape and refine them.

Earlier in his career, Dan worked for the Climate Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where he managed sea level rise mapping initiatives, researched public attitudes on the issue, and advised Congressional Committees on sea level rise and climate hearings. He is a co-author of An Energy Future Transformed: The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and served on a team contracted by the U.S. Department of Energy to advise and support the start-up of ARPA-E. He was also a technical contributor to the Adaptation chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5), the U.S. government's 2023 report on climate change impacts, risks, and responses. He earned his Master's degree from Georgetown University's Graduate School of Foreign Service and his BA from Colby College.