Maxwell Boykoff is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

His dissertation research explores U.S. mass media influences on science and policy concerning climate change, and examines the relationship to public understanding of climate change issues in the United States. The research seeks to excavate linkages and ruptures and improve connectivity between science, policy and civil society regarding causes and consequences of global climate change.

Additionally, Boykoff examines vulnerability and livelihood issues in relation to global climate change-induced natural disasters in the Caribbean Basin, and he is the director of Duyure Adelante, a non-profit group working in Central America.