Marissa Rice is an interdisciplinary research associate working with BlueAdapt in the European Centre for Environment and Human Health (ECEHH) at the University of Exeter.

Marissa mainly works on the development of LCAT (Local Climate Adaptation Tool), which aims to guide local decision-makers with a tool that combines future climate models, health and community impacts of climate pressures and evidence-based adaptations. Marissa has a BSc in Biology with a minor in Medicine, Literature, and Culture from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a MSc Medical Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh. Marissa has over a decade of experience in academic research environments. Initially, she spent several years working in biomedical research before moving to the UK to explore more interdisciplinary methods and subjects.

Marissa is interested in human health and wellbeing particularly in the context of climate change as well as broader understandings of climate impacts and adaptation. She has always been interested in the human experience with disease, what it means to be ill, and what it means to be well. Through her MSc dissertation, “The Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Regarding Coastal Ecosystems in Climate Change Studies and Indigenous Self-determination,” Marissa sought to understand the gaps in climate change discourse and future possibilities. From this research, Marissa has continued to expand her understanding of approaching climate change impacts and adaptations in an ethical manner that considers human-nonhuman interactions and outcomes alike.