Herman A. Karl, retired from the U.S. Geological Survey, holds position of Affiliate Associate Professor with the University of New Hampshire Department of Natural Resources and Environment. He was co-director of the MIT-USGS Science Impact Collaborative (MUSIC) from 2004 to 2010; during this time he held a faculty appointment as a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to becoming co-director of MUSIC he was Chief Scientist of the Western Geographic Science Center. His current research focuses on climate change adaptation.

Karl has been a visiting scientist at the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, United Kingdom and a Senior Associate with the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation. He has authored/co-authored about two hundred articles, abstracts, book chapters, maps, and reports and has given numerous invited presentations. His contributions to the USGS have been acknowledged with a Non-recurring Service Award for Leadership, the Department of the Interior Unit Citation for service on the USGS Strategic Planning Team, a Unit Award for Excellence of Service as a member of the Western Mapping Center, and the Department of the Interior Superior Service Award. He has been honored with the USGS Shoemaker Award for Communication Product Excellence, the Association of Earth Science Editors Outstanding Publication of the Year Award, and the National Association of Government Communicators Blue Pencil Award for outstanding achievement in the field of government communications. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Geophysical Union. Dr. Karl received a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in Geological Sciences, a M.S. from the University of Nebraska in Geology, and a B.S. from Colgate University.