To schedule an interview, call (310) 451-6913 or email media@rand.org.
Debra Knopman is an adjunct engineer at RAND, co-chair of the board of the Henry Luce Foundation, vice chair of the Council of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.
She served as vice president and director of RAND Justice, Infrastructure, and Environment from 2004 to 2014, and as a principal researcher from 2014 to 2022.
Knopman's expertise is in hydrology, environmental and natural resources policy, systems analysis, and public administration. RAND projects include studies of adaptation of urban regions to a changing climate, long-term water management, capability development planning for the Air Force, policy options for nuclear waste disposal, and organizational design for R&D.
She served for six years (1997–2003) as a member of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board and chaired the board's Site Characterization Panel. She directed the Progressive Policy Institute's Center for Innovation and the Environment from 1995 to 2000. From 1993 to 1995, Knopman was the deputy assistant secretary for Water and Science, U.S. Department of the Interior. She was a research hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and later chief of the Branch of Systems Analysis in the USGS's Water Resources Division. From 1979 to 1983, she served first as legislative assistant for energy and environmental issues to Senator Daniel P. Moynihan and then as professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Knopman earned her Ph.D. in geography and environmental engineering from the Johns Hopkins University, and her M.S.C.E. from MIT.
Ph.D. in geography and environmental engineering, Johns Hopkins University; M.S. in civil engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; B.A. in chemistry, Wellesley College
