Publications

I have nearly 40 peer-reviewed publications; have published in top journals such as Nature Climate Change, Global Environmental Change, and Environmental Research Letters; and have garnered over 3,700 citations to date (i100-index = 10, i10-index = 24).

Kapruwan, R., Saksham, A.K., … McDowell, G., et al. (In Review) Multi-sectoral solutions to climate change adaptation across global mountain regions.

Hanly, K. & McDowell, G. (In Review) Understanding and overcoming institutional barriers to climate change adaptation experienced by mountain guides in the Canadian Rockies.

Rushton, B., Hanly, Lemieux, C., McDowell, G., Salim, E. (In Review) Adventuring on Thin Ice: Perceptions, Adaptations, and Adaptive Capacity of Canadian Mountaineers in the Face of Climate Change.

Hanly, K. & McDowell, G. (2024) The Evolution of ‘Riskscapes’: 100 years of climate change and mountaineering activity in the Lake Louise area of the Canadian Rockies. Climatic Change. 177(49) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-024-03698-2

McDowell, G. Stevens, M., Marshall., S. et al. (2023) Canadian Mountain Assessment: Walking Together to Enhance Understanding of Mountains in Canada. University of Calgary Press.

Hanly, K., Marshall, S., McDowell, G. (2023) The State of Glacier hydrology Research in Canada. Canadian Water Resources Journal (75th Anniversary of Canadian Water Resources Association Special Issue). 48(4) https://doi.org/10.1080/07011784.2023.2289805

Hanly, K., McDowell, G., Tricker, J. (2023) Climbing through climate change in the Canadian Rockies: Guides’ experiences of route transformation on Mt. Athabasca. Tourism and Hospitality. 4(4) 539-558. https://doi.org/10.3390/tourhosp4040033

Maharjan, A., McDowell, G., Panday, A., Pasakhala, B., Shrestha, S., Wang, X. (2023) Cryospheric change, adaptation, and sustainable development in the mountain societies of the Hindu Kush Himalaya. In ICIMOD. Wester, P., Chaudhary, S., Chettri, N., Jackson, M., Maharjan, A., Nepal, S., Steiner, J.F. (Eds.), Water, Ice, Society, and Ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: An Outlook (pp. 165–217). ICIMOD.

Baral, P., Allen, S., Steiner, J., Gurung, T., McDowell, G. (2023) Climate change impacts and adaptation to permafrost change in High Mountain Asia: a comprehensive review. Environmental Research Letters. 18 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf1b4

Voorhis, J., McDowell, G., Burakowski, E., Luneau, T (2023) The Implications of Warmer Winters for Ice Climbing: A Case Study of the Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire, USA. Frontiers in Human Dynamics - Environment, Politics and Society. 5 https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2023.1097414

Adler, C., Wester, P., … McDowell, G., et al. (2022) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report. Working Group II. Cross-Chapter Paper on Mountains. Cambridge University Press.

McDowell, G. & Hanly, K. (2022) The state of mountain research in Canada. Journal of Mountain Science. 19(10) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-022-7569-1

McDowell, G. (2022) The Canadian Mountain Assessment: Engaging with multiple ways of knowing to advance understanding of mountains in Canada. 2022 State of the Mountains Report. Alpine Club of Canada.

McDowell, G., Stevens, M., Lesnikowski, A., Huggel, C., Harden, A., DiBella, J., Morecroft, M., Kumar, P. Joe, E.T., Bhatt, I. (2021) Closing the adaptation gap in mountains. Mountain Research and Development. 41(3) https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00033.1

Aggarwal, A., Frey, H., McDowell, G., Drenkhan, F., Nüsser, M., Racoviteanu, A., Hoelzle, M. (2021) Adaptation to climate change induced water stress in major glacierized mountain regions. Climate and Development. 14(7) https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2021.1971059

McDowell, G. & Guo, J. (2021) A nationally coherent characterization and quantification of mountain systems in Canada. Mountain Research and Development. 41(2) https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00071.1

McDowell, G., Koppes, M., Harris, L., Chan, KM., Price, MF., Lama, DG., Jiménez, G. (2021) Lived experiences of ‘peak water’ in the high mountains of Nepal and Peru. Climate and Development. 14(3) https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2021.1913085

Carey, M., McDowell, G., Huggel, C., Marshall, B., Moulton, H., Portocarrero, C., Reynolds, J., Provant, P., Vicuna, L. (2021) A Socio-Cryospheric Systems Approach to Glacier Hazards, Glacier Runoff Variability, and Climate Change. In Snow and Ice-Related Hazards, Risks and Disasters (2nd Edition). Haeberli, W. & Whiteman, C. (Eds.). Elsevier.

McDowell, G. (2020) Why mountains matter in Canada: They sustain us, enrich our lives, and inspire us. Canadian Geographic. November/December issue.

Kassi, N., Humphries, M., McDowell, G. (2020) The Canadian Mountain Network: Advancing innovative, solutions-based research to inform decision-making. Mountain Research and Development. 40(4) https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00004.1

McDowell, G., Harris, L., Koppes, M., Price, M., Chan, K., Lama, D (2020) From needs to actions: Prospects for planned adaptations in high mountain communities. Climatic Change. 163(2) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02920-1

McDowell, G. (2020) Adaptation to glacio-hydrological change in high mountains. PhD Dissertation. University of British Columbia, Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability. Vancouver, BC.

Ford, J., King, N., Galappaththi, E., Pearce, T., McDowell, G., Harper, S. (2020) The Resilience of Indigenous Peoples to Environmental Change. One Earth. 2(6) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.05.014 

Canosa, I., Ford, J., McDowell, G., Jones, J., Pearce, T. (2020) Progress in climate change adaptation in the Arctic. Environmental Research Letters. 15(9) https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9be1

Hock, R., Rasul, G., … McDowell, G., et al. (2019) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Special Report on the Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC). High Mountain Areas chapter. Cambridge University Press.

McDowell, G., Huggel, C., Frey, H., Wang, F., Cramer, R., Ricciardi, V. (2019) Adaptation action and research in glaciated mountain systems: Are they enough to meet the challenge of climate change? Global Environmental Change. 54 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.10.012

Windfeld, E., Ford, J., Berrang-Ford, L., McDowell, G. (2019) How do community-level climate change vulnerability assessments treat future vulnerability and integrate diverse datasets? A review of the literature. Environmental Reviews. 27(4) https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2018-0102

McDowell, G. (2018) Book Review – Mountain Ice and Water: Investigations of the Hydrologic Cycle in Alpine Environments. Mountain Research and Development. 38(3). https://doi.org/10.1659/mrd.mm224

Shaw, S., Rodina, L., ... McDowell, G. (2018) Unpacking social-ecological transformations: Conceptual, ethical and methodological insights. The Anthropocene Review. 5(3) https://doi.org/10.1177/2053019618817928

Ford, J., Pearce, T., McDowell, G. et al. (2018) Vulnerability and its discontents: The past, present, and future of climate change vulnerability research. Climatic Change. 151 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-018-2304-1

McDowell, G. & Koppes, M. (2017) Robust adaptation research in high mountains: Integrating the scientific, social, and ecological dimensions of glacio-hydrological change. Water 9: 739. (Special Issue – Global Warming Impacts on Mountain Glaciers and Communities). 9(10) https://doi.org/10.3390/w9100739

McDowell, G., Stephenson, E., Ford. J. (2016) Adaptation, Adaptation Science, and the Status of Adaptation in Mountain Regions. In Climate Change Adaptation Strategies: An Upstream-Downstream Lens, eds. Salzmann, N., Huggel, C., Nussbaumer, S., Ziervogel, G. (Eds). Springer.

McDowell, G., Ford. J., Jones, J. (2016) 25 years of community-level climate change vulnerability research: Trends, progress, and future directions. Environmental Research Letters. 11 DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/11/3/033001

Ford, J., McDowell, G., Pearce, T. (2015) The adaptation challenge in the Arctic. Nature Climate Change. 5 https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2723

Ford, J., … McDowell, G. et al. (2015) Community-based adaptation research in the Arctic. WIREs Climate Change. 7(2) https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.376

Carey, M., McDowell, G., Huggel, C., Jackson, J., Portocarrero, C., Reynolds, J., Vicuna, L. (2014) Integrated Approaches to Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in Dynamic Socio-Cryospheric Systems. In Snow and Ice-Related Hazards, Risks and Disasters. Haeberli, W. & Whiteman, C. (Eds.). Elsevier.

McDowell, G., Stephenson, E., Ford. J. (2014) Adaptation to climate change in glaciated mountain regions. Climatic Change. 126 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1215-z

Ford, J., McDowell, G. Jones, J. (2014) The state of climate change adaptation in the Arctic. Environmental Research Letters. 9 DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/9/10/104005

McDowell, G. and Ford, J. (2014) The socio-ecological dimensions of hydrocarbon development in the Disko Bay region of Greenland: Opportunities, risks, and tradeoffs. Applied Geography. 46 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2013.11.006

Ford, J., McDowell, G., Shirley, J., et al. (2013) The dynamic multi-scale nature of climate change vulnerability: An Inuit harvesting example. Annals of the American Association of Geographers. 103(5) https://doi.org/10.1080/00045608.2013.776880

McDowell, G., Ford, J., Lehner, B., Berrang-Ford, L., Sherpa, A. (2013) Climate-related hydrological change and human vulnerability in remote mountain regions: A case study from Khumbu, Nepal. Regional Environmental Change. 13 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-012-0333-2

McDowell, G. (2012) The role of bridging organizations in facilitating socio-ecological transformation: A case study of the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative, MSc Thesis. University of Oxford, Environmental Change Institute. Oxford, UK.

McDowell, G. (2011) The human dimensions of climate change in the Khumbu Region of Nepal: Implications of hydrological modification. BA Honours Thesis. McGill University, Department of Geography. Montréal, QC.

Knight, M. and McDowell, G. (2010) Breaking the Ice: McGill researchers work with Inuit hunters to understand and publicize the social effects of climate change. McGill Daily 99: 14-15.

McDowell, G. (2010) Introduction. Ampersand 3: viii-ix.

-In addition, I have served as a peer-reviewer for Cambridge University Press, Nature Sustainability, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, One Earth, Climatic Change, Climate and Development, Environmental Research Letters, Environment and Planning A, Environment and Planning E, Regional Environmental Change, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Global and Planetary Change, PLOS One, the Journal of Mountain Science, and Mountain Research and Development. I have also served as an Expert Reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and a book proposal reviewer for Springer.