Marc Levy was deputy director of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University's Earth Institute and an adjunct professor at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs. CIESIN collected and analyzed interdisciplinary data related to people and the environment, and integrated the information with geospatial data. Levy was also chair of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Measuring Sustainability; lead author of the Human Security chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group II; and a member of the US government's Political Instability Task Force.

Levy on the challenges of training healthcare workers.