Karen Seto

Karen Seto is the Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science in Social Science at Yale University’s School of the Environment. She also directs the Hixon Center for Urban Sustainability and co-directs the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions. Seto received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1991, an M.A. in International Relations and Resource and Environmental Management from Boston University in 1995, and a Ph.D. in Geography from Boston University in 2000. Before Yale, she was faculty at Stanford University from 2000 to 2008, with appointments in the School of Earth Sciences and Woods Institute for the Environment. At Yale since 2008, she advanced from assistant professor to full professor, holding roles such as Associate Dean of Research and Director of Doctoral Studies.

Seto’s research examines urbanization’s effects on global change and sustainability, including links to food systems, biodiversity, energy use, emissions, and climate mitigation. She employs satellite remote sensing to monitor urban dynamics, reconstruct historical land use, model expansion drivers, and forecast growth, with over two decades of fieldwork in Asia, especially China and India. Key publications include the book City Unseen: New Visions of an Urban Planet (2018, co-authored with Meredith Reba), “From Low- to Net-Zero Carbon Cities: The Next Global Agenda” (Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 2021), and “Global forecasts of urban expansion to 2030 and direct impacts on biodiversity and carbon pools” (PNAS, 2012). Her influence spans election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2017), American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science (fellow, 2017), Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (2018), and Foreign Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. She received the American Association of Geographers’ Outstanding Contributions to Remote Sensing Research Award (2019) and was a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher (2018–2020). Seto chairs the U.S. National Academies’ Policy and Global Affairs Division, co-chairs the Climate Security Roundtable, and served as Coordinating Lead Author for IPCC urban chapters in the Fifth (2014) and Sixth (2022) Assessment Reports.

Professional Email: karen.seto@yale.edu