C
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND STAFF
David Robinson (Chair) is a professor in the Department of Geography at Rutgers University. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. Dr. Robinson has expertise in the collection and archiving of accurate climatic data, and he is interested in climate change (particularly state and regional climate issues), hemispheric snow cover dynamics, interactions of snow cover with other climate elements, and the dynamics of solar and terrestrial radiative fluxes at and close to the surface of the Earth. He is the author or coauthor of approximately 140 articles, more than half in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Robinson is the state climatologist for New Jersey and recently served as president of the American Association of State Climatologists. Current committee assignments include NOAA’s Integrated Surface Observing Systems, NOAA’s Climate Change Data and Detection Research Element, and the American Meteorological Society’s Applied Climatology.
Roberta Balstad is a senior research scientist at Columbia University and director of the university’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN). Dr. Balstad has published extensively on science policy, information technology and scientific research, remote-sensing applications and policy, and the role of the social sciences in understanding global environmental change. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and has been a senior fellow at Oxford University and a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Dr. Balstad has also been the director of the Division of Social and Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation, the founder and first executive director of the Consortium of Social Science Associations, and president and Chief Executive Officer of CIESIN before it joined Columbia University. She has lectured widely both in the United States and abroad. She has been the vice president of the International Social Science Council and has served as chair of the NRC Steering Committee on Space Applications and Commercialization, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Advisory Panel on Advanced Scientific Workshops/Advanced Research Institutes, the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy; and the Advisory Committee of the Luxembourg Income Study.
Roger Barry is a distinguished professor of geography and the director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, World Data Center for Glaciology, Boulder, and he is rostered in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Southampton (U.K.). His research interests are in Arctic climate, cryosphere-climate interactions, mountain climate, and climatic change. He has published more than 200 scientific papers and several textbooks on weather and climate and is coauthor of a forthcoming book on The Arctic Climate System. Dr. Barry is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. He serves as co-vice-chair of the Scientific Steering Group for the World Climate Research Programme’s project on Climate and Cryosphere and is a member of the Terrestrial Observations Panel for Climate. He also serves on the editorial boards of Advances in Atmospheric Science, Physical Geography, and Polar Geography. Dr. Barry is fluent in French, German, and Russian, and he has been a Fulbright teaching scholar at Moscow State University in Russia. He has also held visiting appointments at the Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l’Environment, Genoble; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich; the Alfred Wegener Institute for Marine and Polar Research; the Climatic Research Unit at University of East Anglia, U.K.; the Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; the Department of Geography at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand; and the Department of Biogeography and Geomorphology at the Australian National University, Canberra.
Janet Campbell and her research team are developing techniques for studying biological and biogeochemical processes in the ocean using satellite remote sensors. Their primary sources of data are ocean color satellite sensors such as the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). They are modeling the effects of phytoplankton, dissolved organic materials, suspended sediments, and other particles on the spectral radiance measured by these satellites and are exploring inversion techniques for using the satellite ocean color data to map these substances. Techniques are being developed for estimating primary productivity in coastal waters and for blending regional models for coastal applications. Dr. Campbell is a member of NASA’s SeaWiFS and MODIS science teams. As a member of the MODIS team she is responsible for developing algorithms and strategies for monitoring chlorophyll and primary productivity in coastal ocean, estuarine, and inland waters. Dr. Campbell has been an associate research professor at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) since 1993 and is a member of the Graduate Faculty. Between 1997 and 1999, she served as the NASA program manager for ocean biology and biogeochemistry. Before coming to UNH she was a research scientist at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Boothbay Harbor, Maine (1982-1993), where she established and directed the remote-sensing computer facility. She previously worked as an aerospace technologist and engineer at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. She holds a Ph.D. in statistics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
Ruth DeFries is an associate professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, with joint appointments in the Department of Geography and the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center. She investigates the relationships between human activities, the land surface, and the biophysical and biogeochemical processes that regulate Earth’s habitability. She is interested in observing land cover and land use change at regional and global scales with remotely sensed data and exploring the implications for such ecological services as climate regulation, the carbon cycle, and biodiversity. Dr. DeFries obtained a Ph.D. in 1980 from the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in 1976 from Washington University with a major in Earth science. Dr. DeFries has worked at the National Research Council with the Committee on Global Change and has taught at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay. She is a fellow of the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program.
William J. Emery is a professor at the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Colorado. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii. His research interests are in satellite remote sensing of the ocean and land surface vegetation. Ocean applications include skin sea surface temperature, the computation of surface currents from satellite images, mapping of geostrophic currents from satellite altimetry, and general air-sea interaction studies. The goal of Dr. Emery’s research is to make satellite data a source of quantitative information that can be incorporated into numerical models of the phenomena controlling these systems. Dr. Emery has served on many panels looking into the creation of long-term climate records from satellite data.
Milton Halem holds an emeritus position as distinguished information scientist with the Earth Science Directorate at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Dr. Halem formerly served as assistant director for information sciences and as chief information officer for the GSFC. Dr. Halem has also served as chief of the Earth and Space Data Computing Division, where he was responsible for the development and management of the NASA Center for Computational Sciences, one of the world’s most powerful complexes for scientific data-intensive supercomputing and massive data storage. He acquired his Ph.D. in mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University in 1968. He joined NASA in 1971 as the Global Atmospheric Research Program project scientist and later headed up the Goddard Global Modeling and Simulation Branch. His personal achievements include more than 100 scientific publications in the areas of atmospheric and oceanographic sciences and computational and information sciences.
He is most noted for his groundbreaking research in simulation studies of space-observing systems and for the development of four-dimensional data assimilation for weather and climate prediction. He has earned numerous awards, including the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (twice), the NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership (NASA’s highest award), the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and an honorary doctorate from Dalhousie University (Canada).
James Hurrell is a senior scientist and director of the Climate and Global Dynamics Division (CGD) of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. His research has centered on empirical and modeling studies and diagnostic analyses to better understand climate, climate variability, and climate change. He has authored or coauthored more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, as well as dozens of other planning documents and workshop papers. He has convened more than one dozen national and international workshops and has served several national and international science-planning efforts. Currently, he is extensively involved in the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) on Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR), and he serves as co-chair of Scientific Steering Committee of U.S. CLIVAR. He has also been involved in the assessment activities of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Dr. Hurrell received his Ph.D. in atmospheric science from Purdue University. He has received the Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award from the American Meteorological Society and Distinguished Alumnus Awards from both Purdue University and the University of Indianapolis. He was recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher by Thomson-ISI in 2004.
Arlene Laing is a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Division. She received a Ph.D. in meteorology from Pennsylvania State University. Her research examines various aspects of convective precipitation including life cycles of precipitation, hurricane rainfall, flash flood forecasting and mitigation; mesoscale modeling of volcanic ash dispersal; and wildfire forecasting. Much of her research utilizes data from satellite sensors (infrared, passive microwave, and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission [TRMM] precipitation radar). She is also a scientist with the Cooperative program for Operational Meteorology, Education, and Training (COMET). She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), a visiting scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and an assistant professor at the University of South Florida. Dr. Laing received the Max Eaton Award from the American Meteorological Society and currently serves on its Committee on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography.
Ranga Myneni is a professor with the climate and vegetation group in the Geography Department at Boston University. He received his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Antwerp in Belgium. Dr. Myneni’s research examines vegetation cover over Earth as observed from satellites, and he recently has worked extensively with Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data.
Richard Somerville’s major research interest is global climate change. He is a specialist in computer modeling of the climate system. He obtained a Ph.D. in meteorology from New York University and has been a professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego since 1979. In recognition of his accomplishments in scientific research, Dr. Somerville has been elected a fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Meteorological Society. He is also listed in Who’s Who in America. The results of his research have been published in more than 100 technical papers. In addition, he has written a nontechnical book explaining topics such as the ozone hole and the greenhouse effect, titled The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Climate Change. Among his many honors was his designation as the Walter Orr Roberts Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Sciences for 1999 by the American Meteorological Society, “in recognition of significant contributions to the understanding of atmospheric processes derived from multidisciplinary research activities.”
Paul D. Try is the senior vice-president and program manager at Science and Technology Corporation (STC) and the past director of the International Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Project Office. He received his Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington. Dr. Try has expertise in meteorological in situ and remote sensors (satellite and radar), as well as data collection, processing, exchange, and archival. Before joining STC he served in the U.S. Air Force, where he provided oversight management of all Defense Department research and development in environmental sciences. Dr. Try is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society and was its president in 1996-97.
Thomas Vonder Haar is a distinguished professor in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University (CSU). He received a Ph.D. in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Vonder Haar’s research interests lie in the areas of global energy budget, remote sensing from satellites, local area forecasting, and geosciences. His work has included some of the first results of the direct solar irradiance measurements from satellites and the exchange of energy between Earth and space. Studies on the interaction of clouds and radiation and the general circulation have formed a basis for national and international plans leading to the Global Energy and Water Experiment and programs related to global change. Dr. Vonder Haar developed and directs CSU’s Satellite Earth station to support research on storms at all scales. He recently coauthored the new textbook Satellite Meteorology, an Introduction, and he is the director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere. He also is chairman of the World Climate Programme Working Group on Radiation Fluxes, a member of several NASA science teams, and a member of the GEWEX Science Steering Group. He has received the American Meteorological Society Second Half Century (Charney) Award, the Abell Faculty Research and Graduate Program Support Award, the Engineering Dean’s Council Award, and the CSU Distinguished Professor designation. He sits on the Council and Executive Committee of the American Metrological Society and the Board of Trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). He was recently elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering.
NRC STAFF
Sheldon Drobot is a research associate at the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Colorado. He was a program officer at the Polar Research Board and the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate from December 2002 through November 2004, and during this time, Dr. Drobot acted as the study director for the initial report entitled Climate Data Records from Environmental Satellites. He received his Ph.D. in geosciences (climatology specialty) from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Dr. Drobot has directed several NRC studies on polar and atmospheric research, including two related to the International Polar Year 2007-2008. His research interests include sea ice-atmosphere interactions, remote sensing, unmanned autonomous vehicles, statistics, and long-range climate outlooks. Dr. Drobot currently is researching interannual variability and trends in Arctic sea ice conditions and how low-frequency atmospheric circulation affects sea ice distribution; short-range forecasting of Great Lakes ice conditions; and long-range forecasting of summer ice conditions and U.S. Great Plains crop yields.
Amanda Staudt is a senior program officer with the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the National Academies. She received an A.B. in environmental engineering and sciences and a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from Harvard University. Her doctorate research involved developing a global three-dimensional chemical transport model to investigate how long-range transport of continental pollutants affects the chemical composition of the remote tropical Pacific troposphere. Since joining the National Academies in 2001, Dr. Staudt has staffed the National Academies review of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Strategic Plan and the long-standing Climate Research
Committee. Dr. Staudt has also worked on studies addressing air quality management in the United States, research priorities for airborne particulate matter, the NARSTO Assessment of the Atmospheric Science on Particulate Matter, weather research for surface transportation, and weather forecasting for aviation traffic flow management.
Rob Greenway has been a project assistant at the National Academies since 1998. He received his M.Ed. in English education and his A.B. in English from the University of Georgia.
