James S. Famiglietti

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James S. (Jay) Famiglietti is the director of the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada. Prior to that he was the Senior Water Scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA [1] and a professor of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine. He is a leading expert in global water issues and in raising awareness about the global water crisis and in particular, about global groundwater depletion. [2]

Contents

Education

Famiglietti received his B.S. in Geology from Tufts University in 1982 and his M.S. in Hydrology from the University of Arizona in 1986. [3] He continued his graduate studies at Princeton University, where he earned both his M.A. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering. [4] Formerly an Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, and the founding Associate Director of the University of Texas at Austin's Environmental Science Institute, Famiglietti was also the founding director of the UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling (UCCHM) at UC Irvine. [5]

Famiglietti is known for his research using satellites and developing computer models to track changing freshwater availability around the globe. His work, his commentary and efforts in science communication were featured in the Participant Media water documentary Last Call at the Oasis, [6] in 60 Minutes, [7] on Real Time with Bill Maher . [8]

Research and Projects

Famiglietti's research centers around “the role of hydrology in the coupled Earth system” and evaluating “global change impacts on water availability.” [9] He has long been a proponent of advancing the capabilities of hydrological models in the United States. While chair of the board of the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science (CUAHSI), he led the Community Hydrologic Modeling Platform (CHyMP) effort to accelerate the development of hydrological models for use in addressing global issues related to water, food, economic, climate, and global security. He continued those efforts at the UCCHM and at NASA JPL, where he leads the Western States Water Mission. [10]

Famiglietti conducts research using NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to monitor how humans and global change are impacting freshwater availability. His team pioneered the use of GRACE for remote sensing of groundwater storage changes. [11] Their work has revealed unsustainable groundwater use and the rapid rates of groundwater depletion [2] [12] [13] [14] [15] in the world's major aquifers. [16] [17] This research is also recognized by NASA as the primary justification for the selection of the GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) as a climate continuation mission. [18]

Awards and honors

Famiglietti is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) [19] and of the Geological Society of America (GSA). [20] In 2012 he was selected as the GSA's Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer. [21] During that year he delivered over 50 lectures in the United States and internationally on the topics of water cycle change and on the need to advance hydrological modelling capabilities. [22] He was also selected as one of two 2014 David Keith Todd Lecturers of the Groundwater Resources Association of California. [23] In 2010, Famiglietti was the recipient of the Shimizu Visiting Professorship at Stanford University in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Other notable honors include being awarded the Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education honor in 2005 by UC Irvine, and the NASA New Investigator Award in 1996. [9]

Publications

Famiglietti has published a number of academic research reports and articles, on topics ranging from soil moisture, to the remote sensing of groundwater availability and the effects of climate change on water balance. Notable publications include Satellite-Based Estimates of Groundwater Depletion in India, [12] Satellites Measure Recent Rates of Groundwater Depletion in California’s Central Valley (2011), [13] The Global Groundwater Crisis (2014), [24] Quantifying Renewable Groundwater Stress with GRACE [17] and Emerging trends in global freshwater availability [25]

Beyond academia, Famiglietti has published a number of op-eds in major national newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, [26] [27] [28] and the San Francisco Chronicle. [29] Among these, his March 12, 2015 LA Times op-ed went viral and attracted major media and public attention [30] [31] [32] [33] He has also been a regular contributor to the National Geographic Water Currents blog [34] and to Huffington Post. [35]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water cycle</span> Continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth

The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or the hydrological cycle, is a biogeochemical cycle that describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. The mass of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time but the partitioning of the water into the major reservoirs of ice, fresh water, saline water and atmospheric water is variable depending on a wide range of climatic variables. The water moves from one reservoir to another, such as from river to ocean, or from the ocean to the atmosphere, by the physical processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, surface runoff, and subsurface flow. In doing so, the water goes through different forms: liquid, solid (ice) and vapor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groundwater</span> Water located beneath the ground surface

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">GRACE and GRACE-FO</span> Joint American-German space mission to map Earths gravitational field

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) was a joint mission of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Twin satellites took detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field anomalies from its launch in March 2002 to the end of its science mission in October 2017. The GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) is a continuation of the mission on near-identical hardware, launched in May 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groundwater recharge</span> Groundwater that recharges an aquifer

Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs in the vadose zone below plant roots and, is often expressed as a flux to the water table surface. Groundwater recharge also encompasses water moving away from the water table farther into the saturated zone. Recharge occurs both naturally and through anthropogenic processes, where rainwater and or reclaimed water is routed to the subsurface.

Overdrafting is the process of extracting groundwater beyond the equilibrium yield of the aquifer. Groundwater is the fresh water that can be found underground; it is also one of the largest sources. Groundwater depletion can be comparable to "money in a bank", The primary cause of groundwater depletion is pumping or the excessive pulling up of groundwater from underground aquifers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water scarcity</span> Lack of fresh water resources to meet water demand

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soil Moisture Active Passive</span>

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Amy Townsend-Small

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effects of climate change on the water cycle</span>

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References

  1. ↑ NASA.gov
  2. 1 2 Famiglietti, J. S. (2014). "The global groundwater crisis". Nature Climate Change. 4 (11): 945–948. Bibcode:2014NatCC...4..945F. doi:10.1038/nclimate2425.
  3. ↑ "UC Irvine – Faculty Profile System". .faculty.uci.edu. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  4. ↑ "UC Irvine – Faculty Profile System". faculty.uci.edu. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  5. ↑ "About". Jay Famiglietti. 2013-07-11. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  6. ↑ Scott, A. O. (2012-05-03). "When There Really Is Not a Drop to Drink 'Last Call at the Oasis,' a Documentary About Water Supplies". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  7. ↑ "Depleting the water". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
  8. ↑ "Watch Clips and other Real Time with Bill Maher videos online on HBO.com". HBO. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
  9. 1 2 "UC Irvine – Faculty Profile System". faculty.uci.edu. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  10. ↑ "Science – Earth Science: People: James S. Famiglietti". science.jpl.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  11. ↑ Barringer, Felicity (2011-05-30). "Groundwater Depletion Is Detected by Grace Satellites". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  12. 1 2 Rodell, Matthew; Velicogna, Isabella; Famiglietti, James S. (2009). "Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India". Nature. 460 (7258): 999–1002. Bibcode:2009Natur.460..999R. doi:10.1038/nature08238. PMID   19675570. S2CID   4428681.
  13. 1 2 Famiglietti, J. S.; Lo, M.; Ho, S. L.; Bethune, J.; Anderson, K. J.; Syed, T. H.; Swenson, S. C.; de Linage, C. R.; Rodell, M. (2011-02-01). "Satellites measure recent rates of groundwater depletion in California's Central Valley" (PDF). Geophysical Research Letters. 38 (3): L03403. Bibcode:2011GeoRL..38.3403F. doi: 10.1029/2010GL046442 . ISSN   1944-8007.
  14. ↑ Voss, Katalyn A.; Famiglietti, James S.; Lo, MinHui; de Linage, Caroline; Rodell, Matthew; Swenson, Sean C. (2013-02-01). "Groundwater depletion in the Middle East from GRACE with implications for transboundary water management in the Tigris-Euphrates-Western Iran region". Water Resources Research. 49 (2): 904–914. Bibcode:2013WRR....49..904V. doi:10.1002/wrcr.20078. ISSN   1944-7973. PMC   3644870 . PMID   23658469.
  15. ↑ Castle, Stephanie L.; Thomas, Brian F.; Reager, John T.; Rodell, Matthew; Swenson, Sean C.; Famiglietti, James S. (2014-08-28). "Groundwater depletion during drought threatens future water security of the Colorado River Basin". Geophysical Research Letters. 41 (16): 5904–5911. Bibcode:2014GeoRL..41.5904C. doi:10.1002/2014GL061055. ISSN   1944-8007. PMC   4373164 . PMID   25821273.
  16. ↑ Frankel, Todd C. (2015-06-16). "New NASA data show how the world is running out of water". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  17. 1 2 Richey, Alexandra S.; Thomas, Brian F.; Lo, Min-Hui; Reager, John T.; Famiglietti, James S.; Voss, Katalyn; Swenson, Sean; Rodell, Matthew (2015-07-01). "Quantifying renewable groundwater stress with GRACE". Water Resources Research. 51 (7): 5217–5238. Bibcode:2015WRR....51.5217R. doi:10.1002/2015WR017349. ISSN   1944-7973. PMC   4744761 . PMID   26900185.
  18. ↑ "Responding to the Challenge of Climate and Environmental Change: NASA's Plan for a Climate-Centric Architecture for Earth Observations and Applications from Space" (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 28, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Famiglietti". Honors Program. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  20. ↑ "Geological Society of America – Fellowship". www.geosociety.org. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  21. ↑ "Home – Hydrogeology Division".
  22. ↑ "Water 50/50".
  23. ↑ "David Keith Todd Distinguished Lecture Series to honor Dr. Todd for his contributions to groundwater science and technology". Archived from the original on 2015-10-03. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  24. ↑ Famiglietti, J. S., "The Global Groundwater Crisis", NatureClimate Change, 2014.
  25. ↑ Famiglietti, J. S., "Emerging trends in global freshwater availability", Nature, 2018.
  26. ↑ "California's water house of cards". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  27. ↑ "How much water does California have left?". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  28. ↑ "California has about one year of water stored. Will you ration now?". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  29. ↑ "Food industry needs to step up on responsible groundwater use". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  30. ↑ "Real Time with Bill Maher, 'When in Drought' with Prof. Jay Famiglietti". HBO.
  31. ↑ "CBS This Morning, 'California governor defends sparing farmers from drought rules'". CBS.
  32. ↑ "Arnold @Schwarzenegger on Twitter". Twitter.com.
  33. ↑ "Tavis Smiley". PBS.
  34. ↑ "Jay Famiglietti – National Geographic Society Newsroom".
  35. ↑ "Jay Famiglietti | HuffPost". HuffPost .
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