I am a climate scientist focused on helping the world prevent and prepare for climate change.

My research program lies primarily at the intersection of climate change science, marine science, and policy. The specific research areas evolve over time in response to advances in climate change knowledge and to real-world events. Prospective students and post-doctoral researchers should check my personal web site for current and planned areas of work, as well as for guidance for applicants.

I take my privileged position as a professor seriously, and spend a lot of my time translating the science of climate change to different audiences in hopes of helping people make better decisions about the future.

I was a lead author on the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment and serve as an appointed member of Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body, which advises the federal government on achieving net-zero emissions.

2025

Rivera-Sosa, A., P. Martin, C. M. Roelfsema, B. Charo, S. D. Donner, A. I. Muñiz-Castillo, M. Pomeroy, B. D. Bambic, G. P. Asner, H. E. Fox, A. G. Bonelli, and D. Manzello. 2025. Six decades of global coral bleaching monitoring: a review of methods and call for enhanced standardization and coordination. Frontiers in Marine Science 12. Frontiers Media S.A. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1547870.

Lachs, L., S. Donner, A. J. Edwards, Y. Golbuu, and J. Guest. 2025. Higher spatial resolution is not always better: evaluating satellite-sensed sea surface temperature products for a west Pacific coral reef system. Scientific Reports 15(1). Springer Nature. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-84289-0.

2024

Li, X., S. D. Donner, and H. A. Martell. 2024. The Loss of Beneficial Thermal Priming on Global Coral Reefs. Global change biology 30(12). Wiley. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17592.

Lachs, L., M. Gouezo, C. Riginos, A. Humanes, Y. Golbuu, J. R. Guest, A. J. Edwards, P. J. Mumby, S. D. Donner, J. C. Bythell, Y.-M. Bozec, and H. K. East. 2024. Natural selection could determine whether Acropora corals persist under expected climate change. Science (New York, N.Y.) 386(6727). American Association for the Advancement of Science: 1289–1294. doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adl6480.

Spencer, T. Magnan, A.K. Donner, S. D. Garschagen, M. Ford, J. Duvat, V. K. and C. C. Wabnitz. 2024. Habitability of low-lying socio-ecological systems under a changing climate. Climatic Change 177 (14). doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-023-03675-1

2023

Lachs, L. Donner, S.D. Mumby, P.J. Bythell, J.C. Humanes, A. East, H.K. and J.R. Guest. 2023. Emergent increase in coral thermal tolerance reduces mass bleaching under climate change. Nature Communications 14 (4939). doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40601-6

Li, X. and Donner, S.D. 2023. Assessing future projections of warm-season marine heatwave characteristics with three CMIP6 models. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 128 (5) doi: 10.1029/2022JC019253

Cannon, S. E. Liu, A. and S. Donner. 2023. Interactions between local disturbance and climate-driven heat stress on central Pacific coral reefs. Marine Ecology Progress Series 709: 17-31.

Cannon, S. E. Donner, S. Liu, A. González Espinosa, P. C. Baird, A. H. Baum, J. K. Bauman, A. G. Beger, M. Benkwitt, C. E. Birt, M. J. Chancerelle, Y. Cinner, J. E.  Crane, N. L.  Denis, V. Depczynski, M. Fadli, N.  Fenner, D. Fulton, C. J. Golbuu, Y.  Graham, N. AJ. Guest, J.  Harrison, H. B.  Hobbs, J-P. A. Hoey, A. S. Holmes, T. H. Houk, P. Januchowski‐Hartley, F. A. Jompa, J. Kuo, C-Y.  Limmon, G. V. Lin, Y. V. McClanahan, T. R. Muenzel, D. Paddack, M. J. Planes, S. Pratchett, M. S. Radford, B. Reimer, J. D. Richards, Z. T. Ross, C. L. Rulmal Jr, J. Sommer, B. Williams, G. J. and S. K. Wilson. 2023. Macroalgae exhibit diverse responses to human disturbances on coral reefs. Global Change Biology 29: 3318– 3330. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16694

Cornwall, C. E. Comeau, S. Donner, S. D. Perry, C. Dunne, J. Van Hooidonk, R. Ryan, S. and C. A. Logan. 2023. Coral adaptive capacity insufficient to halt global transition of coral reefs into net erosion under climate change. Global Change Biology 29: 3010– 3018. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16647

Virgen-Urcelay, A. and S. D. Donner. 2023. Increase in the extent of mass coral bleaching over the past half-century, based on an updated global database. Plos one 18 (2). doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281719

González-Espinosa, P. C. and S. Donner. 2023. Cloudiness delays projected impact of climate change on coral reefs. PLOS Climate 2 (2). doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000090

2022

Wynes, S. Dickau, Kotcher, J. E. Thaker, J. Goldberg, M. H. Matthews, H. D. and S. Donner. 2023. Frequent pro-climate messaging does not predict pro-climate voting by United States legislators. Environmental Research: Climate 1 (2).

Li, X., and S. Donner. 2022. Lengthening of warm periods increased the intensity of warm-season marine heatwaves over the past four decades. Climate Dynamics: 1-12. doi:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06227-y

Sidhu, B. S. Ramankutty, N. Kandlikar, M. and S. Donner. 2022. Reconciling Land-Based Natural Cliamate Solutions with Clean Fuel Requirements for Achieving Net-Zero Emissions in Canada. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 2022.

Buglass, S. Kawai, H. Hanyuda, T. Harvey, E. Donner, S. De la Rosa, J. Keith, I. Bermúdez, J. R. and M. Altamirano. 2022. Novel mesophotic kelp forests in the Galápagos archipelago. Marine Biology 169 (12): 156.

Li, X. and S. Donner. 2022. Assessing future projections of warm-season marine heatwave characteristics with CMIP6 models. Authorea Preprints.

Summers, H. E. and S. Donner. 2022. Investigating the ability of coral reefs to protect shorelines in the Republic of Kiribati. Coral Reefs 41 (2): 369-382. doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5093789

2021

Wynes, C. S. Kotcher, J. and S. D. Donner. 2021. Can citizen pressure influence politicians’ communication about climate change? Results from a field experiment. Climatic Change 168 (6). doi: 10.1007/s10584-021-03215-9

Findlater, K. Webber, S. Kandlikar, M. and S. D. Donner. 2021. Climate services promise better decisions but mainly focus on better data. Nature Climate Change 11: 731-737. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01125-3

Cannon, S. E. Aram, E. Beiateuea, T. Kiareti, A. Peter, M. and S. D. Donner. 2021. Coral reefs in the Gilbert Islands of Kiribati: Resistance, resilience, and recovery after more than a decade of multiple stressors. Plos-One 16(8). doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255304

Liang, K. E. Dawson, K. Stojan, M. Clark, D. G. Wynes, C. S. and S. D. Donner. 2021. A Carbon Footprint Study of the Medical Residency Interview Tour in Canadian Healthcare. Medical Teacher 43(11): 1302-1308. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2021.1944612

Gonzalez-Espinosa, P. C. and S. D. Donner. 2021. Cloudiness reduces the bleaching response of coral reefs exposed to heat stress. Global Change Biology 27(15): 3474-3486. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15676

Logan, C. Dunne, Ryan, J. S. Baskett, M. L. and S. Donner.  2021. Quantifying global potential for coral evolutionary response to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 11: 537–542. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01037-2