Dr. Waleed Abdalati

Dr. Waleed Abdalati

Director
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
University of Colorado, Boulder

Waleed Abdalati is Director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), a joint institute of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU-Boulder).  He is also a Professor in CU-Boulder’s Geography Department.  Dr. Abdalati’s research focuses on the use of satellites and aircraft to understand how Earth’s glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice are changing and the implications of those changes for the Earth System.

Dr. Abdalati spent 14 years working for NASA in various capacities, most recently (January 2011 through December 2012) as NASA Chief Scientist, advising the NASA Administrator on matters related to NASA’s science programs and strategic planning and serving as the key NASA science interface to the White House, Congress, and other Federal agencies.  His career also includes working as an aerospace engineer in industry, a research scientist and branch head at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, manager of NASA’s Cryospheric Sciences Program at NASA Headquarters, and director of an Earth remote-sensing center.

Most recently, Dr. Abdalati co-chaired the National Academy of Sciences Earth Science and Applications from Space 2017 Decadal Survey, which informs investments by NASA, NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in their development and use of Earth observations from space.  Dr. Abdalati earned a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University and a Master of Science and PhD from CU-Boulder.  Dr. Abdalati has received various professional awards and distinctions from the White House, NASA, National Science Foundation, the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and others.