The Lamont Earth Science Colloquium presents:
Defense in Depth’ for Drought Early Warning
with Dr. Laura Harrison, Specialist and Operations Analyst, Climate Hazards Center, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Drought early warning systems thread information about climate, socio-ecological, and socioeconomic factors to anticipate key vulnerabilities. These systems support proactive decisions to mitigate those risks and can be used to target humanitarian assistance.
In this talk, I will introduce you to some of the interesting, effective, and multifaceted input that informs the climate information side of operational drought early warning. I’ll share examples of the ‘defence in depth’ strategy, which delivers credible and timely information in step with forecasts and observations. The strategy is currently in use to track drought concerns in Somalia. Stories I share will illuminate important human elements of data production and the teamwork involved in building effective, informed systems.
I bring my perspective as a scientist who engages in collaborative research, data production, forecast evaluation, and communication about climate hazards in food-insecure regions. This work is conducted through my roles with the UC Santa Barbara Climate Hazards Center, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network’s multi-agency Science Team, and the GEOGLAM Crop Monitors.
Host: Dr. Alexander de Sherbinin, Director, Center for Integrated Earth System Information (CIESIN), Columbia Climate School.
The Earth Science Colloquium Series, sponsored by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia University Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DEES), provides a lively forum for discussing a wide variety of topics within the Earth sciences and related fields. Colloquia are attended by the full range of scientific and technical staff at LDEO. Colloquium attendance is required of all pre-orals DEES graduate students. The Colloquium Series supports the Lamont Seminar Diversity Initiative.
