Lieutenant Commander Oliver-Leighton Barrett, United States Navy (Retired)
Senior Research Fellow
Oliver-Leighton Barrett is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Climate and Security, where he focuses on the impacts of environmental degradation and climate change on the stability and security of states and populations, with an emphasis on Latin America. He is also Americas Liaison at the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS).
He is the founder of Janus Advisory Inc., a company that provides advisory services to federal agencies. Most recently, he led a multi-author effort to draft the Pentagon’s Environmental and Energy Issues for Militaries report – a collaborative multi-national assessment of the impacts of climate change on Latin America and Caribbean militaries’ operations and installations. A retired naval officer, Oliver began his military career as an enlisted U.S. Marine deploying to Somalia in support of humanitarian assistance operations, and later, flew reconnaissance missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He worked as an advisor to U.S. Southern Command for six years managing partner nation public-private cooperation outreach efforts, technology programs as well as environmental and energy security initiatives. Oliver is also a Contributing Writer for Foreign Policy Association, with published articles on fragile states, environmental security and emerging diplomacy and defense issues. He resides in Miami, Florida.
Email: obarrett (at) climateandsecurity.org