Drought and Water Crises

Dr. Donald A. Wilhite is a Professor/Director Emeritus of Applied Climate Science in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, U.S.A. From 2007 to 2012, Dr. Wilhite served as director of the School of Natural Resources. Previously, Dr. Wilhite was the founding director of the National Drought Mitigation Center in 1995 and the International Drought Information Center in 1989 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Recently elected a Fellow in the American Meteorological Society, his research and outreach activities have focused on issues of drought monitoring, planning, mitigation, and policy, the use of climate information in decision making and climate change. He chaired the International Organizing Committee for the High-level Meeting on National Drought Policy, sponsored by WMO, FAO, and UNCCD, that was held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2013. Dr. Wilhite has served as a consultant to WMO, FAO and the World Bank, among others, and has worked with many countries on drought management and policy issues. He chairs the management and advisory committees of the Integrated Drought Management Program, launched in 2013 by WMO and the Global Water Partnership. Dr. Wilhite has authored or co-authored more than 150 journal articles, monographs, book chapters, and technical reports and has been the recipient of more than $20 million in research grants. Dr. Wilhite is editor or co-editor of numerous books on drought and drought management.

Dr. Roger S. Pulwarty is a Senior Scientist, and the chair of the multi-agency National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Executive Council, at the NOAA Office of Ocean and Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Pulwarty's publications focus on weather, climate, and risk management in the U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean. Throughout his career, Roger has helped develop and lead widely-recognized programs on climate and adaptation, including the Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments, NIDIS, and the Mainstreaming Adaptation project in the Caribbean. He is a lead author on UNISDR Global Assessments, on the IPCC Special Reports on Water Resources and Extremes, and a convening lead author on Adaptation in the IPCC Fifth Assessment. Roger has provided testimonies before the U.S. Congress, served on advisory committees of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and acts as an advisor on climate risk management and services to the Western Governors Association, the Organization of American States, USAID, UNDP, UNEP, and the InterAmerican and World Banks, among others. He co-chairs the UN World Meteorological Organization Climate Services Information System, and is member of the Global Climate Observing System Steering Committee. Roger served as co-chair of the White House Working Group on Water, Energy and Food Security, and on the Task Force on Climate and National Security. Roger is Professor-Adjunct at the University of Colorado and the University of the West Indies. He is a recipient of Department of Commerce, Caribbean Academy of Sciences and other awards for integrating research into decision-making.