Scott J. Weaver (Fed)

Scott J. Weaver is Director of the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP) in the Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NWIRP is a federal interagency science-based program focused on achieving major measurable reductions in the losses of life and property from windstorms, by leveraging the latest science and best practices from across the federal government, academia, and the private sector. Dr. Weaver also holds an appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at the University of Maryland and is a member of the NIST team that is conducting a multi-year scientific study of Hurricane Maria’s impacts on Puerto Rico.

Prior to joining NIST in 2018, Dr. Weaver served as the Senior Climate Scientist for Environmental Defense Fund where he was engaged in scientific research and outreach at the intersection of meteorology, climate science, and international climate policy. Dr. Weaver also spent several years as a Research Meteorologist in the Climate Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where his scientific research activities led to improved understanding of the climatic context for extreme weather events (e.g., droughts, floods, heat waves, and tornadoes), and the deployment of this information to inform the development of prediction products, peer reviewed journal publications, scientific assessments, conference proceedings, outreach activities, and educational applications. After receiving a B.S. in Meteorology from Rutgers University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science from the University of Maryland, Dr. Weaver conducted postdoctoral research at the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), where his research focused on elucidating the physical mechanisms that link global scale climate variability and change to the regional expression of warm season droughts and floods over the U.S.

Dr. Weaver currently chairs the NWIRP Windstorm Working Group, a federal interagency partnership that carries out coordination and implementation of the NWIRP program. He is also a member of the American Meteorological Society and American Geophysical Union, and has served on numerous panels and working groups, including the interagency Climate Change and Water Working Group, The U.S. CLIVAR Prediction Predictability Applications Interface, NOAA’s Drought Task Force, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Task Force, and the climate.gov Science Review Board. From 2011 - 2014 Dr. Weaver was an editor for the American Meteorological Society’s annual State of the Climate report. Dr. Weaver has also served as a research mentor for undergraduate and graduate students through various federal science and academic research programs, including NOAA’s Student Career Experience and Hollings Scholarship Programs, and through co-advising University of Maryland graduate students. In 2012, Dr. Weaver was selected to participate in NOAA’s Leadership Competencies Development Program, a premier leadership development program within the Department of Commerce.

Dr. Weaver was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2012, for innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology. In 2010 and 2011 Dr. Weaver received a NOAA recognition award as a member of the team that conducted the scientific assessment of the NOAA operational climate prediction model. In 2005, Dr. Weaver was awarded the University of Maryland Center for Teaching Excellence Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award.

Before the Storm: Measuring and Predicting Hurricanes

June 05, 2018

The Atlantic hurricane season is now upon us, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has just released its 2018 seasonal hurricane outlook, which calls for a slightly above...