With the Obama administration strengthening the Earth Sciences program at NASA, Waleed Abdalati, a University of Colorado professor who specializes in that scientific arena, on Monday was named the agency’s chief scientist.
“I suspect that is what made me a strong candidate for the position,” said Abdalati, 46 , who directs the Earth Science Observation Center at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a joint institute of CU Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
At CIRES, Abdalati and his co-workers use satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques — with modeling and field observations — to study ice sheets, glaciers, and their vulnerability to climate change.
Starting Jan. 3, Abdalati will serve as principal advisor to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, a former shuttle astronaut who was asked by President Barack Obama to return to NASA.
At a press conference earlier this year about the NASA budget, Bolden talked about more than $2 billion in additional funds to “accelerate the development of crucial satellites to improve our forecasting of climate change, focusing on the key unknowns in our ability to predict future climate impacts,” along with development of new carbon monitoring capabilities and the observation of changing ice sheets.
Before moving to Boulder about two years ago, Abdalati had spent about 12 years working for NASA, including a job as the head of the Cryospheric Sciences branch of NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center.
He will move with his wife and two children, ages 10 and 4, to the Washington D.C. area at the end of the month, but continue advising his CU graduate students on visits a few days a month.
As a kid, Abdalati dreamed of becoming an astronaut.
“I remember watching Neil Armstrong land with my little black-and-white TV,” he said.
His new position — providing advice on NASA’s science programs, strategic planning and science investments — will make him an advocate for the agency during a time of critical transition, which will include the question of how space flight is conducted.
“There are two things that fascinate children — space and dinosaurs,” he said. “By the time we’re adults, dinosaurs have kind of fallen off the radar, but space really stirs something at the core of human curiosity, so to be engaged in this way as an advocate is really a privilege.”
But he’s equally passionate about creating a national discussion on climate change, one that transcends the polarization of politics.
“It’s not my job to convince people to stop driving their SUVs,” he said. “It’s to ensure that the best information is available for conversations, and to inform policy. Conversation that is not rooted in data and accurate information is a flawed conversation.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
