Journalists, please contact Katy Human, CIRES Communications Director, for information about reaching these scientists. kathleen.human@colorado.edu, 303-735-0196
Kristen Averyt
Director of the Western Water Assessment, a program of NOAA and CIRES
Dr. Averyt can speak to drought, drought-flood cycles, and the impact of the recent rains on Colorado’s drought situation.
Brian Ebel
CIRES Visiting Fellow, CU-Boulder
Dr. Ebel is a hydrologist who has been working closely with the U.S. Geological Survey on the impact of forest fires on hydrology, from the water quantity (not quality) angle. He can discuss the kinds of impacts that fire is known to have, what’s not known, and why it’s important to understand these impacts.
Martin Hoerling
NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory
Dr. Hoerling is a research meteorologist who specializes in diagnosing the proximate and ultimate causes behind extreme weather events, such as floods, heat waves, tornado outbreaks, and more. He can also discuss the recent storm and flood events in context of historic events and statistics.
Kelly Mahoney
CIRES scientist at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory
Dr. Mahoney can compare this flood with the Big Thompson and other historical floods. She can also discuss the future of this kind of extreme event, given climate change.
James Meldrum
The Western Water Assessment, a program of NOAA and CIRES, and CU-Boulder’s Institute of Behavioral Science
Dr. Meldrum researches individuals’ decisions about natural hazard risks. Part of his Ph.D. addressed flood insurance and whether being in a floodplain influenced people’s willingness to pay for housing in Boulder County, Colorado.
Klaus Wolter
CIRES scientist at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory
Dr. Wolter, who lives near Jamestown, is limited in his availability for interviews. He is is occasionally able to discuss, primarily through email: the meteorological situation leading up to the recent storms and flooding, the history of disastrous floods in Colorado, and the impact of wildfire on flood events.
Photo of Boulder Creek by David Oonk, CIRES
