Public Weather Services (PWS)

WMO International Symposium on Public Weather Services (PWS): a Key to Service Delivery, Geneva, Switzerland (3-5 December 2007)

Paper Title: Improving Drought Management and Preparedness:  Meeting the Decision Support Needs of Customers and Stakeholders

Names:  Donald A. Wilhite

Institution:  University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Title:  Director, School of Natural Resources

E-Mail Address: dwilhite2@unl.edu

Dr. Wilhite is director of the School of Natural Resources and Professor of climatology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, U.S.A.  The School was formed in 1997 and is composed of faculty representing the disciplines of climatology, ecology, geology, water resources, fisheries and wildlife, forestry, soils, remote sensing, and GIS.  Prior to this position, Dr. Wilhite was the Founder and Director of the National Drought Mitigation Center and the International Drought Information Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  Dr. Wilhite's research and outreach activities have focused on issues of drought monitoring, planning, mitigation, and policy and the use of climate information in decision making.  He has authored or co-authored more than 130 journal articles, monographs, book chapters, and technical reports and is the editor or co-editor of several books including, Drought: A Global Assessment (2000, Routledge), Drought and Water Crises:  Science, Technology, and Management Issues (2005, CRC Press) and From Disaster Response to Risk Management: Australia=s National Drought Policy (2005, Springer). Dr. Wilhite is also co-editor of Early Warning Systems for Drought Preparedness and Drought Management, the proceedings of an expert meeting sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization in 2000.  He has collaborated with many countries and regional and international organizations on drought policy and planning issues and conducted numerous workshops on drought planning in the U.S. and internationally.  Dr. Wilhite chairs the WMO Forum on the Socio-Economic Benefits of Weather, Climate, and Water Services.