23-26 March 2009 Scoping Meeting Invited Speaker

David R. Easterling

David Easterling is Chief of the Scientific Services Division at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987 and served as an Assistant Professor in the Climate and Meteorology Program, Indiana University-Bloomington from 1987-1990. In 1990, he moved to the National Climatic Data Center as a Research Scientist, was appointed Principal Scientist in 1999, and Chief of Scientific Services in 2002.

Easterling has authored or co-authored more than 60 research articles on climate change issues in journals such as Science, Nature and the Journal of Climate. He was also a Contributing Author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Second and Third Assessment Reports. He is currently a Lead Author for the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report and a Convening Lead Author for the U.S. Climate Change Science Plan (CCSP) Synthesis and Assessment Product (SAP) 3.3 on Climate Extremes. His research interests include the detection of climate change in the observed record, particularly changes in extreme climate events.