Tess Sprague

Scientist | Planner | Teacher | Dr. Teresa (Tess) Sprague recognizes that while challenges posed by climate change are many, so are the solutions we can work together to achieve. For the past 15 years, she has specialized in climate resilient planning and managing current and future extreme conditions for public and private sectors, and the communities they serve. Her work within the US and internationally includes teaching as an EU Marie Curie Fellow in Germany, conducting research for disaster effected communities across multiple countries, and consulting in climate change adaptation planning. Her recent work includes private and public sector water risk, vulnerability assessments and metrics analysis, disaster risk reduction, and stakeholder engagement.
She has authored a book on Building Resilience and Planning for Extreme Water-Related Events with Palgrave and Macmillan Publishers and is a contributing author for the Springer Nature Handbook on Climate Resilient Societies. Tess serves as the Climate Resilience National Specialty Lead at Brown and Caldwell, working with utilities and communities across the US, and is the Vice Chair of the American Water Works Association Climate Change Committee. She often speaks at and leads workshops for events held by the Water Environment Federation, AWWA, and the National Adaptation Forum.
Dr. Sprague has B.A. from the University of California, San Diego, a M.Sc. from the University of Oxford, and a Ph.D. from the Technische Universitaet Dortmund, Germany. She also has a side business supporting and advising young professionals along their journey from research to industry.