Marc Levy serves as Deputy Director of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), a unit of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is a political scientist specializing in the human dimensions of global environmental change. He has worked closely with the U.S. government and the United Nations on climate-security problems, and is currently a lead author on the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change Fifth Assessment. Before coming to Columbia University in 1998, Levy held teaching appointments at Princeton University and Williams College.

He is frequently called on for advisory and assessment processes. He has served on four committees of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and was a Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change Fifth Assessment, Working Group II chapter on human security. He was a Coordinating Lead Author for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment’s chapter on human well-being, the UN Environment Programs Third Global Environmental Outlook chapter on policy responses and the Fourth Global Environmental Outlook chapter on drivers. He has served on the Political Instability Task Force since 1996.

He is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Data-Driven Development. He has co-led, with Daniel Esty, production of the Environmental Sustainability Index and Environmental Performance Index, which have been released regularly at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland since 1999. He also serves on the high-level advisory board on Sustainability and Competitiveness of the WEF.