Barry Rabe studies the durability and performance of environmental, energy and climate policy in federal systems of government such as the United States and Canada. Trained as a political scientist at the University of Chicago, he is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Emeritus of Environmental Policy at the University of Michigan. He also held the J. Ira and Nikki Harris Family Chair of Public Policy at the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy. Rabe has received five awards in honor of his research from the American Political Science Association, including the 2025 Elinor Ostrom Award for career contributions to the study of environmental policy.
Rabe is a visiting scholar at the Balsillie School of Global Governance in Canada, a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He is the author or co-author of seven books and co-edits a leading environmental policy textbook with Michael Kraft. His current research examines policies for nuclear energy and waste, transition in chemicals used for cooling in air conditioning and refrigeration systems, and limiting methane releases from oil and gas production, landfills, and agriculture. Rabe has served in advisory roles to the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Governor of Oklahoma. He was the first social scientist to receive a Climate Protection Award from the Environmental Protection Agency.
