Message from Chancellor Fox: One of UC San Diego’s greatest institutional strengths is the breadth and depth of faculty research on a range of important topics. Each month, Chancellor’s Corner will showcase cross-disciplinary faculty expertise in a specific area. I invite you to learn more about the work of these scholars, and I hope you share my pride in their achievements and their contributions to society.

Water Use and Policy

Tim Barnett
Tim Barnett’s research focuses on the physics of climate change and long-range climate forecasting. He investigates global atmospheric and oceanic conditions, and uses computer models to understand global climate fluctuations such as climate prediction (including El Niño forecasting), the effects of land processes on climate change, and the recognition of greenhouse gas signals (such as sea-level rise). He has testified before the U.S. Congress and served as an advisor to congress and other governmental agencies on U.S. ocean and climate activities. More…

Richard Carson
Richard Carson joined UC San Diego in 1985. He is a professor and the former chair of the Department of Economics. He specializes in environmental and natural resource economics. He has worked on issues related to air pollution, energy, growth management, natural disasters, non-market valuation and water. He also works in the areas of econometrics and consumer marketing. More…

Dan Cayan
Daniel Cayan studies climatic influences on the transfer of heat and moisture between the ocean and atmosphere, and the impacts of atmospheric circulation and precipitation on the surface hydrology over North America. Regionally, Cayan is studying climate variations over the West Coast and in particular over California. He directs the California Applications Program, a National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration-sponsored effort to improve climate information for decision-makers in the California region, and also directs the Scripps component of California Climate Change Center, a multi-investigator effort sponsored by the California Energy Commission to assess potential climate change effects in California. More…

Steve Erie
Steve Erie joined the UC San Diego faculty in 1981. He is the Director of the Urban Studies and Planning program. His research focuses on California water issues, social and economic factors in political incorporation of minority groups, and regional governance, finance, transportation, trade infrastructure and development. He is involved in a number of organizations in Southern California, including the Governors Commission on Building for the 21st Century and the Board of Directors of Los Angeles Water and Power Associates. More…

Jan Kleissl
Jan Kleissl joined UC San Diego in 2006. His research focuses on interactions of the lowest part of the atmosphere, the boundary layer, with the Earth’s surface. He has merged his expertise in experimental and computational work to produce models of land-atmosphere interaction and evapotranspiration that is considered state-of-the-art. The models have relevance to air quality and other environmental problems. More…

David Pierce
David Pierce joined Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1993. His research interests include variability in thermohaline circulation, which is the slow, global overturning of the ocean waters; predicting El Niño and its impacts, particularly on the western portion of the U.S.; multi-year climate variability over the North Pacific ocean and how it influences weather over North America by contributing to extended droughts, for example; and the regional effects of global climate change on the local climate of the western states. Recently, he has been working on bringing the results of climate science to the energy industry to help predict summer air-conditioning loads, among other applications. More…

** To learn more about other campus faculty scholars and areas of expertise, please visit the searchable UC San Diego Faculty Experts Database at: http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/facultyExperts/