Max Nathanson is a Fellow for Climate Security Studies at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies at the National Defense University. Through ACT1Federal, Max assists the Perry Center with numerous climate initiatives including support to SOUTHCOM, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Perry Center's CCIDS (Climate Change and Implications for Defense and Security) in-residence executive course. His work in the domain of climate security examines the integration of climate change concerns into US national security policy, with focuses on migration, humanitarian assistance, decarbonization, and sustainable economic development.

Max is a PhD candidate at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment and St. Antony's College. He is also a visiting researcher at Harvard University's Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability. He is supervised by Professor Cameron Hepburn, Professor Diane Davis, and Dr. Ben Franta, and his research has been generously supported by a Rotary International Global Grant, the Oxford Smith School, and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

Max's previous experience includes managing economic development and future of work policy for Colorado Governor Jared Polis, where he was a core member of the Governor's COVID-19 response team, and as a policy advisor at Co-Equal, working with US congressional staff on legislative affairs and congressional oversight. He is also the founder of the Oxford Urbanists, a global urban development social enterprise, and is passionate about community development and environmental protection in his home state of Colorado.

Max holds an MPhil in international development from Oxford, and a bachelor's degree, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in political science from the University of Colorado, where he was a Norlin Scholar.