Summary of Qualifications
Dr. Houser in an internationally recognized expert in hydrology and water resources, climate dynamics and prediction, community of practice development, decision support tool design, and capacity building. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Hydrology and Water Resources from the University of Arizona in 1992 and 1996 respectively. Dr. Houser joined the NASA-GSFC Hydrological Sciences Branch and the Data Assimilation Office (DAO/GMAO) in 1997, and served as branch head of the Hydrological Science Branch from 2000-2005. In 2005, he joined the George Mason University Climate Dynamics Program and the Geography and Geoinformation Sciences Department as Professor of Global Hydrology, and formed the Center for Research for Environment and Water with the mission to quantify and predict water cycle and environmental consequences of earth system variability and change through focused research investments in observation, modeling and application. Starting in 2008, Dr. Houser teamed with groundwater development and exploration companies to solve fresh water shortages, where he is responsible for providing satellite- and model-based estimates of water availability. In 2011, Dr. Houser advised the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on scientific integrity, peer review, and data stewardship policies, as well as coordinating Reclamation activities with other agencies and the broad scientific community.
Dr. Houser has extensive experience designing and developing regional-level databases and clearinghouse mechanisms for gathering and sharing climate change knowledge including the development of extensive water-focused databases of climate data, satellite archives and model predictions. He led the development of WaterNet, a project that developed databases of decision support needs and science capabilities in the water sector, and made links between them to find solutions. He also has extensive capabilities in data visualization, GIS and database development, as well as semantic tools for finding relevant information in large databases.
Dr. Houser has developed a number of web-based data visualization tools for climate and water data, as well as climate visualizations customized for a particular region or sector. He has expertise in development of water decision support tools, from surface water availability and balance assessment tools to groundwater prediction tools. He has also developed data stewardship standards and worked with international communities to help unify protocols on data collection, management, storage, and quality, as well as methods for making data available widely. He has developed methods to share and promote success stories, as well as in-the-field knowledge by capturing these experiences via a web portal or workshops.
Dr. Houser has studied and taught adaptive management, as well as integrated decision making strategies. He has developed and participated in a number of capacity-building and stakeholder workshops on key priority areas that bring together researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders to identify shared priorities for research and development of decision-support tools. He has also worked with emerging climate model projections (AR5) to update and refine regional climate trend information, and has developed a multi-model ensemble hydrological downscaling methodology and toolset to develop future water availability scenarios with likely uncertainties, and with the recent past as a baseline comparison.