The Climate Systems Engineering initiative (CSEi) welcomes Geneviève Elsworth as its new Director of Research Development. Elsworth brings deep expertise in applied climate and carbon research drawn from federal, academic, and industry settings, and will provide both technical and intellectual leadership across CSEi’s growing research portfolio.
“Geneviève brings a rare combination of scientific rigor and practical experience—exactly what CSEi needs at this stage of our growth. We are delighted to have her leading our research development efforts,” said Macol Cerda, Executive Director of CSEi.
Elsworth joins CSEi most recently from DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office, where she served as an Innovation Fellow managing a portfolio of novel energy and carbon removal technologies. Prior to that, she was a Research Associate at NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, where she developed ocean carbon forecasts and designed marine carbon dioxide removal data products. She also held a research position at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, leading technical evaluation of low-carbon technologies and advanced biofuels.
At CSEi, Elsworth will oversee funded research projects, manage engineering contracts, and support grant development across the initiative’s research areas, which span open-systems carbon removal, sunlight reflection methods (SRM), and local interventions to prevent glacial melting. She will work closely with CSEi Founding Faculty Director David Keith and CSEi Executive Director Macol Cerda, helping build connections among researchers across the University of Chicago campus.
Elsworth joins a growing team at CSEi. The initiative recently appointed leading atmospheric scientist Dan Cziczo as an incoming Professor of Geophysical Sciences. Along with Cziczo, the addition of Elsworth reflects CSEi’s continued expansion of its faculty and research leadership as it scales its work on climate intervention science.
“With a background in industry, DARPA, and NASA, combined with doctoral work in geosciences, Geneviève has the right toolkit to help CSEi translate science into practical impact. I’m elated she’s joined the team and look forward to working with her to accelerate research at CSEi,” said Keith.
Elsworth earned her Ph.D. in Geosciences from the University of Colorado Boulder, where her research examined climate change impacts on marine ecosystems. She holds a master’s degree from McGill University and a bachelor’s from Penn State University.
“I’m thrilled to be joining CSEi at such a pivotal moment for climate science. The work happening here—across carbon removal, solar geoengineering, and glacial preservation—represents some of the most consequential research being done anywhere. University of Chicago is leading the growth of the climate systems engineering field and I couldn’t be more excited to contribute,” Elsworth said.