ABOUT ME
I am a research hydrologist and climatologist, retired from the U.S. Geological Survey, and now a Visiting Researcher for Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Visiting Research Professor at the Desert Research Institute. I research the hydrology, climate, and water resources of the West, focusing on regional surface water and groundwater resources, hydroclimatic variability, and climate-change impacts. For contracting purposes, I have recently established a one-person LLC, called Michael Dettinger Climate Science, LLC.
Over the years, I've been:
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physical-sciences team leader for DOI-DOD ecosystem planning in the Mojave Desert (way back in the 1990s),
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a member of executive committee for initial USA National Phenological Network implementation,
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a founding member of the CIRMONT Western Mountain Climate Sciences Consortium,
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co-editor of the 2008 and 2016 State of Bay-Delta Science reports,
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research advisor for USGS Surface-Water Discipline,
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a lead author of the Water Resources chapter of the 2013 National Climate Assessment,
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convening lead author of California 4th Climate Assessment Sierra Nevada Region Report,
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Chair of AMS Water Resources Committee 2015-2019,
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a member of the Standing Review Board for NASA's Surface-Water/Oceanographic Topography (SWOT) mission.
I've authored and co-authored 150+ scientific articles and chapters in scholarly journals and books, 30+ government reports, and 90+ other reports in less formal outlets. My work has been cited in the scientific literature more than 28,000 times (>12,000 since 2016).
Photo: Lamoille Cyn, Ruby Mtns, Nevada
PROFESSIONAL HONORS
VICE PRESIDENT GORE'S NATIONAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW AWARD
"for physical-science leadership in multiagency DOD/DOI Mojave Ecosystem Planning"
1996
CLIMATE SERVICE AWARDS,
California Department of Water Resources
for "helping DWR to incorporate climate-change adaptation into water planning and management"
2007, 2014
Hydrology FELLOW,
American Geophysical Union
"for insightful, societally relevant research in understanding how climate and weather affect the variability of hydrologic systems”
2014-present
Atmospheric & Hydrospheric FELLOW, American Association for the Advancement of Science
"for seminal contributions to the understanding of the hydroclimatology of the Western US”
2018-present
SENIOR SCIENTIST, US Geological Survey
2015-2019
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD, California Extreme Precipitation Symposium
for "scientific contributions [that] have informed public decisionmaking resulting in increased public safety from floods and droughts"
2020
EDUCATION
1973-1977
University of California, San Diego
BA Physics, Summa cum Laude
1977-1979
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MS Civil Engineering (Water Resources)
1990-1997
University of California, Los Angeles
MS & PhD Atmospheric Sciences
