Q&A With Lisa Goddard on Leadership in Climate Science Lisa Goddard takes the mic during a workshop. Credit: Elisabeth Gawthrop/IRI Lisa Goddard’s career at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) stretches back to when the institute was based on the West Coast and some of its scientists surfed on their lunch breaks (we won’t name names…). Goddard is internationally recognized for her work in climate science, and has held several leadership positions in the field, including a seat on the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate at the U.S. National Academies of Science, and a chair position at the World Climate Research Programme’s Climate and Ocean: Variability, Predictability and Change organization. She has pioneered key research on El Niño and La Niña and is also an adjunct associate professor in Columbia’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.