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Jonathan Overpeck will speak to the House Committee on Science and Technology about managing water supplies.

By University Communications
May 13, 2008

Jonathan Overpeck, director of The University of Arizona’s Institute for the Study of Planet Earth and professor of geosciences and atmospheric sciences, will testify before a U.S. House of Representatives committee on Wednesday.

Overpeck, one of only 33 lead authors on an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment report released last year, will speak at the House Committee on Science and Technology hearing titled “Water Supply Challenges for the 21st Century.

The purpose of the hearing is to examine the challenges of managing water supplies to meet social, economic and environmental needs in the U.S. The hearing also will examine the role of the federal government in helping states and local communities meet their water management challenges.

The hearing takes place Wednesday, May 14 at 10 a.m. in room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

"The committee is trying to understand how to ensure ample water supply in our nation," Overpeck said. "My goal is to highlight the large challenges posed by climate variability and climate change to ensure we have enough water."

Overpeck was a coordinating lead author, Chapter 6 (Paleoclimate), for the IPCC’s fourth assessment report.

The fourth assessment report, which focused on the science of climate change, presented expert consensus on greenhouse gas levels, global land and ocean temperatures, sea level rising, changes in sea ice and predictions of future change.

The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore.

A faculty member at the UA since 1999, Overpeck received his undergraduate degree in geology from Hamilton College, and his advanced degrees from Brown University. After graduation, he spent five years as a research scientist at Columbia University before moving on to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to work on its paleoclimatology program.