Joe Ripberger is an Associate Professor of Political Science and the Deputy Director for Research at the Institute for Public Policy & Analysis (IPPRA) at the University of Oklahoma. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma in 2012. Prior to his appointment in the Department of Political Science, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate and then a Research Scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies where he worked with the National Severe Storms Laboratory and the National Weather Service on severe weather policy.

Currently, his research focuses on risk and public policy with an emphasis on weather, climate, and water policy. He is working on a number of projects, including projects on climate variability and human adaptation in Oklahoma, social responses to changes in complex river systems, and a systematic assessment of the watch, warning, and advisory system in the United States. Joe teaches courses in research methods and public policy, including graduate courses on the analysis of political and administrative data.