As Director of the Climate Hazards Center (CHC), Chris helps to plan, oversee, and participate in the research of the Climate Hazard Center. These efforts focus on developing improved early warning and climate hazard systems to support famine prevention. Chris is a lead developer for the widely-cited Climate Hazards InfraRed Precipitation with Stations dataset. He studies the processes that drive climate and weather extremes. He has co-authored an award-winning book focused on Drought Early Warning and Forecasting. Chris also works closely with partners in Africa to improve national and regional climate services and advisory services. He continues to work on improving extreme weather and climate forecasts, expanding the CHC’s gridded data sets, and enhancing the capabilities of national meteorological agencies. Chris has published many papers and enjoys advising students. 

 

Chris lives happily with his wife in the mountains above Santa Barbara, where he enjoys hiking, biking and stone carving.