Understanding Drought: Dr. Mike Hobbins

Admiral Tim Gallaudet, the current CEO of Ocean STL Consulting and former Deputy Administrator of NOAA, Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Oceanographer of the Navy discusses the importance of the Blue Economy.  Learn how both the public and private sectors can contribute to food security in our oceans and how the blue economy can help meet our food security needs. 

Every dollar in preventive action can save up to $15 dollars in post-disaster recovery. So why do nations sometimes struggle to implement preventative measures?  Learn about the challenges and success stories of Disaster Risk Reduction and how weather and climate data can contribute. Adam Fysh is a Programme Officer in the Risk Analysis and Reporting Section of United Nations Office for the Disaster Risk Reduction. 

Learn how accurate and timely early warning can increase the productivity and efficiency of humanitarian assistance. Join us in a conversation on his latest book: Dr. Funk’s Drought, Flood, Fire: How Climate Change Contributes to Recent Catastrophes. How is climate change contributing to these disasters but also how do they offer opportunities for prediction?

Behold the power of remote sensing and mapping! How combining the latest in science and contextual information helps humanitarians make crucial life saving decisions on the ground. What role do drones play in remote sensing? How can machine learning help researchers peer underneath the clouds in the immediate aftermath of a flood and anticipate the greatest flood risk?

The NOAA Climate Prediction Center International Desk provides an amazing service to governments and humanitarian organizations around the world- -all free of charge. Join us to learn about the extensive forecast products that the International Desk Provides, how these have evolved, and how they meet the needs of customers such as USAID.

Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, Senior Research Scientist at NASA and Adjunct Senior Research Scientist at the Columbia University Earth Institute, describes how agriculture modelers at AgMIP are working to protect food security in the future. Join us to see how challenges in a warming climate are different for smallholder famers vs commercial farmers, and how AgMIP is helping these diverse groups to make vital decisions. Also, Learn how the IPCC Report chapter on Food Security is made! 

Effective Public Policy can play an important role in tackling food insecurity. Lauren Stuart, who works for an International Humanitarian Organization, discusses the importance of weather and climate science in improving public policy. Learn how sound public policy can improve the lives of those facing food security right now.

Dr. Munoz-Arriola studies the resiliency of complex water and agricultural systems as well as their infrastructure. Come join us and learn how data analytics and geospatial analytics can help us better understand both the social and environmental causes of food insecurity. 

Dr. Hobbins's research has been molded by the dramatic droughts he witnessed as a child growing up in Nairobi, Kenya. Learn how his latest research in drought monitoring can help communities to better anticipate significant drought.  You have heard of a flash flood but can you define a flash drought? Come join us to learn how the latest drought research can improve decision making and food security.

Early Warning Systems play a crucial role in protecting food security in the arctic and supporting crucial decision making. Dr. Zeke Baker, assistant Professor of Environmental Sociology , discusses how climate change alters how people anticipate the long-term future. For mariners and coastal communities in the Bering Sea region, this situation is acute. Join us as Dr. Baker discusses how meteorology and weather services can improve their social impact by moving beyond a paradigm of formal prediction to incorporate a deeper understanding of community-level social processes.