Her research focuses on climate change and the planning response to it from greenhouse gas reduction to climate adaptation and climate-exacerbated hazards planning. She served as a Visiting Research Professor at the Research Center for Disaster Reduction Systems at Kyoto University in 2013 & 2014. Prior to her time in Japan, Adrienne served as co-principle investigator and project manager for development of a California Climate Adaptation Planning Guide for the California Office of Emergency Services and authored a book titled Local Climate Action Planning (2012) in collaboration with two co-authors.