Climate Hazards Center Hosts: Early Warning in a Warming World
Climate Hazards Center Brown Bag - Early Warning in a Warming World
On February 7th, the Climate Hazards Center will be hosting two leading USAID Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) scientists: Jim Verdin and Karyn Tabor. As the risks of climate hazards, food insecurity and fire increase in a rapidly warming world, improved early warning and risk management science will play a pivotal role in protecting vulnerable people and ecosystems.
Join us for a brown bag lunch in the Mosher House Alumni Hall. The presentations will be from noon to 1:00 pm, followed by an hour for discussion. If these topics interest you, please join us, February 7th, 2024, 12:00-2:00 in the Mosher House, Alumni Hall.
Topics
Jim Verdin (UCSB Geography alumni) will present on "Applied Agroclimatology for Famine Early Warning" and Karyn Tabor will present on “Connecting Early Warning to Early Action”. Brief biographies are presented below. FEWS NET is widely seen as one of the world’s most effective interdisciplinary early warning institutions, and this will be a unique opportunity to learn more about, and discuss, the links between Earth Science and proactive interventions.
Brief Biographies
Jim Verdin is on the USAID team managing the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) program. Previously, he led USGS agroclimatology support to FEWS NET for over twenty years. Jim is a co-founder of the Group on Earth Observations’ Crop Monitor for Early Warning, which is compiled monthly through a collaborative international process. He also served five years as Deputy Director of the U.S. National Integrated Drought Information System, where he helped establish regional drought early warning systems in the western U.S. Jim has degrees in civil and environmental engineering (B.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison and M.S. Colorado State University), and a Ph.D. in geography (University of California, Santa Barbara).
Karyn Tabor is a senior research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Agroclimatology Advisor for USAID’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). Her research aims to increase accessibility to satellite-based early warning and alert systems for improved decision-making. Before coming to Goddard in 2022, Karyn had a lengthy career in satellite applications for climate action and biodiversity conservation at Conservation International (CI). Karyn holds a Ph.D. in Geography and Environmental Systems from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and an M.A. in Environmental Remote Sensing and GIS from Boston University.
