A distinguished University of California, Irvine civil and environmental engineer will talk about changes in the water cycle and human impacts on it in the 21st century in a free public lecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Friday, Sept. 14.
James (Jay) Famiglietti, professor of earth system science in UCI’s School of Physical Sciences. will address “Water Cycle Change and the Human Fingerprint on the Water Landscape of the 21st Century: Observations from a Decade of GRACE” at UNL’s East Campus Hardin Hall, N. 33rd and Holdrege Sts., at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14.
“GRACE” in the title of Famiglietti’s lecture refers to NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, a satellite-driven project providing estimates of all terrestrial water.
Famiglietti is this year’s Geological Society of America Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer. The honor is based on research excellence and communication skills.
The special lecture is being co-hosted by NU’s Nebraska Water Center, part of the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute, UNL’s School of Natural Resources and UNL’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Department of Geography.
Famiglietti, who researches hydrology and climate, remote sensing of terrestrial and global water cycles and hydrological and earth system modeling, currently directs the University of California Center for Hydrologic Modeling. There, his group uses satellite remote sensing to track water availability and groundwater depletions on land. They have also been working to improve hydrological predictions in regional and global weather and climate models.
Seating for the Hardin Hall lecture is first-come, first-served.
The lecture will be available online at watercenter.unl.edu sometime after the presentation.