Dr McCluskey is a water resource engineer with a background in global water and food modeling. She is currently a Senior Research Associate at the University of Colorado, Climate and Civil Systems Group (CLICS) and also the Training Coordinator for the Development Under Climate Change (DUCC) project at UNU-WIDER.
In the past fifteen years, she has worked for: the World Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute, International Water Management Institute, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Stratus Consulting Inc., International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, Stockholm Environment Institute, Center for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa, and the University of Colorado. She has conducted training seminars around the world on hydrologic and water planning models. Alyssa’s experience includes integrated freshwater assessments, modeling water management scenarios, water policy, international river basin simulations, development of global water stress indicators, and managing and applying the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) model. Her research work has centered on climate change issues and the issue of spatial scale in global water and food modeling. Alyssa holds a BS, MS, and PhD in Civil/Water Resource Engineering from the University of Colorado.