Research Focus

As a climate scientist, I study the dynamics and impacts of the Earth’s changing climate system. I’m especially interested in how climate change is affecting regional climate extremes—including the atmospheric processes responsible for droughts, floods, and wildfires. My research embraces “climate complexity” by accounting for the nuanced spatial, temporal, and intensity characteristics of our planet’s response to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations.

My recent work has focused primarily on two parallel but related tracks. First, I have sought to understand shifting regional hydroclimates–including the processes driving (and impacts resulting from) amplification of severe droughts and “megafloods” in a warming climate. Second, I have embarked on multiple collaborative research projects focused on understanding the climate-related factors behind increasingly severe and destructive wildfires across the American West. A collective aim of both these research tracks is to develop empirically-supported approaches to natural hazard mitigation that benefit both society and the environment in an era of increasing climate extremes. 

I currently hold joint appointments as a climate scientist within UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, a research fellow in the Capacity Center for Climate and Weather Extremes at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and as the California Climate Fellow at The Nature Conservancy. 

Science Communication and Outreach

I author the Weather West blog, which provides real-time perspectives on California weather and climate. I also engage extensively with journalists and other partners to facilitate broadly accessible, scientifically-informed media coverage surrounding climate change. In addition to serving as a climate and weather science liaison to print, radio, television, and web media outlets, I also review existing news articles for scientific accuracy as part of the Climate Feedback team. You can find me on Twitter @Weather_West and on YouTube.

CV, Publications, and More

My full, up-to-date curriculum vitae is available here.

My recent publications may be found below, as well as on Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and ORCID.