Professor
Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia
kathryn.harrison@ubc.ca
Kathryn Harrison is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario, Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering and Political Science from MIT, and a PhD in Political Science from UBC.
Dr. Harrison studies environmental, climate, and energy policy, federalism, and comparative public policy. She is the author of the book Passing the Buck: Federalism and Canadian Environmental Policy and co-author of Risk, Science, and Politics. In addition, she has edited or co-edited several volumes, including Racing to the Bottom? Provincial Interdependence in the Canadian Federation, and Global Commons, Domestic Decisions: The Comparative Politics of Climate Change
- Harrison, Kathryn and Andrew Leach. 2025. “Climate Policymaking in Crisis: The Impact of Declining Oil Prices, COVID-19, and the Ukraine War in Canada.” Environmental Politics.
- Harrison, Kathryn. 2023. “Climate Federalism in Canada.” In Climate Governance and Federalism: A Forum of Federations Comparative Policy Analysis, edited by Alan Fenna, Sébastien Jodoin, and Joana Setzer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Janzwood, Amy and Kathryn Harrison. 2023. “The Political Economy of Fossil Fuel Production in the Post-Paris Era: Critically Evaluating Nationally Determined Contributions.” Energy Research & Social Science 102: 103095.
- Mildenberger, Matto, Erick Lachapelle, Kathryn Harrison and Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen. 2022. “Carbon Tax Rebate Programs Have Had Limited Impacts on the Politics of Carbon Pricing to Date.” Nature Climate Change 12: 141–147.
- Harrison, Kathryn and Guri Bang. 2022. “Supply-Side Climate Policies in Major Oil-Producing Countries: Norway’s and Canada’s Struggles to Align Climate Leadership with Fossil Fuel Extraction.” Global Environmental Politics 22: 129–150.
- Harrison, Kathryn and Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom, eds. 2010. Global Commons, Domestic Decisions: The Comparative Politics of Climate Change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- The New Politics of Fossil Fuel Subsidies (Peter Water Research Award). This study will compare fossil fuel subsidies in BC and other Canadian provinces by creating a database of subsidies and public finance, examining the politics of fossil fuel subsidies, and comparing the views of British Columbians and Canadians in other provinces on fossil fuel subsidies.
- Comparative Politics of Carbon Taxation. A book project comparing carbon tax adoption and durability in Australia, Alberta, British Columbia, Canada (federal government), France and Ireland.