July 06, 2007

LINCOLN, Neb. — Longtime University of Nebraska-Lincoln climatologist Mike Hayes will move from associate director to director of UNL's National Drought Mitigation Center on Aug. 1.

Hayes, who has been with the center since its inception more than 10 years ago, replaces NDMC founding director Don Wilhite, who is becoming director of UNL's School of Natural Resources.

"I am convinced the NDMC will be in good hands under Mike's leadership," Wilhite said. The two have worked together building the NDMC's reputation as a national and international leader in drought mitigation planning since Wilhite founded the center in 1995.

Hayes began at the NDMC as a climate impacts specialist and was promoted to associate director of the center last year. He received doctorate and master's degrees in atmospheric science from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a bachelor's degree in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Mark Kuzila, current director of the School of Natural Resources, whom Wilhite will replace in August and which the NDMC is a part of, said, "Mike has been an extremely productive faculty member. He has published widely and has been very successful in securing research and outreach programming funding from several federal agencies. He is well respected by scientists nationwide and has been an excellent communicator of climate and drought science issues to the public and to policymakers."

Hayes said that the NDMC would continue focusing on core drought planning elements, such as drought monitoring, reducing vulnerability to its impacts, and drought planning.

"For the future, we want to continue providing better and more relevant information that is useful to the public, policymakers and the scientific community," Hayes said. "We want to identify successful drought planning and monitoring strategies that can be transferred to other locations worldwide and to continue building networks for improving drought impact collection."

Strengthening and broadening existing ties with other NU researchers, research entities and extension programs, on all three campuses, will remain a high priority, Hayes said.

Over the past 12 years, NDMC has been directly and indirectly involved with drought planning efforts at state, tribal and local levels, with a result that overall preparedness level for dealing with droughts seems to have improved.

"When we started in 1995, 29 states had drought response plans. Now 39 have them, with eight more having drought mitigation plans and two more moving in that direction. This illustrates the gradual, but growing awareness of the need for drought planning," said Hayes.

Mitigation is the process of planning before the onset of drought to reduce vulnerability to it, rather than response, which tends to be more expensive. A response plan is a good beginning. In addition to working with governments on drought planning, the NDMC was a founding partner in the widely published U.S. Drought Monitor and continues to supply rotating authors for the weekly maps that appear in newspapers and on web sites nationally.

Recent partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency has enabled other research expansion, such as the satellite-based Vegetation Drought Response Index and the related Vegetation Outlook, the Drought Impact Reporter, Risk Reduction for Ranchers, developing methods for quantifying economic impacts of drought, and developing the Drought Atlas and Decision Support System.

NDMC also conducts research with sponsors such as the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Other projects focus on monitoring groundwater, effects of low levels of water in rivers and streams, modeling, and incorporating various kinds of data into drought monitoring and impacts reporting. In addition to research, NDMC conducts workshops, seminars and conferences related to drought and other educational programming.

NDMC began with a staff of six, which now numbers 18 plus graduate students.

7/6/07-SR

Michael J. Hayes - Ph.D.
National Drought Mitigation Center
Climate Impacts Specialist
(402) 472-4271

Steve Ress
UNL Water Center - Communications Coordinator
(402) 472-3305

Department: National Drought Mitigation Center