Karl Kreutz, Ph.d.
Director | School of Earth and Climate Sciences
Professor | Climate Change Institute
UMaine climate research extends our reach around the world with Kreutz and his collaborators leading the way.
Sea to Sky.
The capstone course for Earth and Climate Science majors is also Karl Kreutz’s favorite to teach. From one horizon to another, undergraduate students board planes heading away from Maine toward Alaska’s glaciers, ready to put their education into practice by conducting research that will be used at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute (CCI) long beyond their student tenure.
Karl Kreutz walked into the institute nearly 30 years ago as a graduate assistant to Harold “Hal” Borns, founder of the CCI and an internationally acclaimed glacial geologist. As a lifelong outdoor enthusiast, Kreutz discovered a field that seamlessly blended his passions: Exploring rugged and remote areas to gather samples, and working in laboratories where data-driven and model-based research helps preserve precious ecosystems. Thanks to the generosity of donors, including the Golden family, their vision for Sea to Sky evolved from a dream into a tangible reality. Karl has never looked back.
Today, he continues Borns’ legacy as a professor at the CCI, paying forward the mentorship that shaped him by doing the same for his students. “Hal led me to everything you see at the Climate Change Institute,” reflects Kreutz. “He was my earliest inspiration and mentor, and I think about him just about every day.”
For over half a century, the CCI has stood at the forefront of environmental research, addressing pressing global challenges. Dozens of faculty and hundreds of students – spanning disciplines and departments around the university – are invested in this interdisciplinary approach to environmental stewardship. In 2025 Kreutz and his capstone students will partner with engineering and economics faculty before journeying to Iceland to focus on renewable energy and geoengineering. The collaborative efforts across the CCI are advancing research and solutions to protect our planet’s ecosystems, now and in the future.
Though the story of climate change is still being written, there is reason to be optimistic. With each step on glaciers and each research experiment conducted at the CCI, Kreutz and his students forge pathways toward a sustainable future. Full of determination to steward this blue planet, they trailblaze together toward a vibrant tomorrow for Maine and beyond.