Bethany Tietjen is a PhD candidate in International Relations at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, and a Predoctoral Research Fellow at the Climate Policy Lab. Her research focuses on climate adaptation and disaster preparedness policies in the United States and globally, with a particular emphasis on identifying gaps and challenges in the policy landscape. She examines how policies align, or fail to align, with evolving climate risks, how policy shifts occur in the aftermath of disasters, and how systemic issues of vulnerability shape climate and disaster preparedness outcomes.
In addition to her dissertation research, Bethany has conducted studies and taught graduate-level courses on climate-induced migration, climate change and security, climate finance, and the gendered impacts of climate change. She holds an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School with a focus on climate policy and gender and intersectional analysis, and a B.A. in International Studies and German Studies from American University in Washington, D.C.
Bethany brings over a decade of international experience living and working in Southeast Asia, Central America, Europe, and the Middle East, which informs her approach to research and teaching.
Bethany Tietjen & Tarun Gopalakrishnan (2023) Loss and Damage Funding in the UN Climate Negotiations: From Dialogue to Reality, Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 65:3, 18-28.
Tietjen, B., Jacobsen, K., Hollander, J., "Climate Change and Urban Migration in Sub-Saharan African Cities: Impacts and Governance Challenges," Journal of Climate Resilience and Climate Justice. (2023).
Tietjen, B. “Finance to adapt: Making climate funding work for agriculture at the local level,” ECDMP, (2019).
Clark, J., Tietjen, B., Jaffe, A. M., Salak, S., and Coughlan de Perez, E. "Preparing for Novel Extreme Weather Events in the United States: Lessons from Disasters," Policy Brief, Climate Policy Lab, The Fletcher School at Tufts University. (April 2024)
Tietjen, B., Clark, J., and Coughlan de Perez, E. "Progress and gaps in U.S. Adaptation policy at the local level," Global Environmental Change, Volume 87. (July 2024).
Masukwedza, G. I. T., Clark, J., Jaffe, A., Jeffries, I., Tietjen, B., and Coughlan de Perez, E. “Storylines of Unprecedented Extremes in the Southeast United States.” Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 106, 3. (March 2025).
Keenan, J. M., Ajibade, I., & Tietjen, B. C. (2025)."The state of planning, policy, and justice for human mobility in national adaptation plans" Earth System Governance, 25, 100266. (June 2025)
Morgan, J., & Tietjen, B. (2026, October). The Evolution of Global Climate Governance in a Multipolar World (Discussion Paper). Climate Policy Lab, The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
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