Formally trained as a marine geologist and geophysicist, Jeff Warren has been a practitioner of state-level science policymaking since 2004 including: the coastal hazards policy specialist for the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management (2004 to 2010), the science advisor for the North Carolina Senate (2011 to 2017), and the research director (2017 to 2020) and now executive director (2020 to present) for the legislatively created North Carolina Collaboratory headquartered at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Since its inception in 2016, the Collaboratory has received approximately $150 million in appropriations for the General Assembly and manages a robust research portfolio that includes/has included every campus in the UNC System as well as numerous private universities across the State.

Warren earned his BSc in geological sciences from the University of Arizona (1994), his MSc in geology from Auburn University (1997), and his PhD in geological sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2006).  Warren’s academic research included field sites in the southeastern US, northern Mexico, the East and South China Seas, and the Ross Sea for which he received the Antarctica Service Medal from the National Science Foundation. In addition to his primary duties at UNC Chapel Hill with the Collaboratory, Warren is also appointed as Professor of Practice with the Department of Public Policy.