Position:
-
-
- Specialist and Operations Analyst for the Climate Hazards Center
-
Institution:
-
-
- Climate Hazard Center, University of California – Santa Barbara
-
Bio:
Laura’s professional activities include monitoring and forecasting climate impacts to agriculture and examining historical variability and change, primarily in food insecure regions of Africa. She is an active user of earth observation data for her work with FEWS NET and helps support CHC data products and operations.
Laura is also a science writer for the GEOGLAM Crop Monitor. The CHC provides regional outlooks for areas of concern based on assessments of recent conditions and short and long-term weather forecasts.
She has a Masters and Ph.D. in Geography from UCSB. Some of her published research has examined drivers of East Africa precipitation trends and hazards to maize production related to increasing temperatures
Publications:
Pomposi, Catherine & Funk, Chris & Shukla, Shraddhanand & Harrison, Laura & Magadzire, Tamuka. (2018). Distinguishing Southern Africa precipitation response by strength of El Niño events and implications for decision-making. Environmental Research Letters. doi: 13. 10.1088/1748-9326/aacc4c.
Hoell, Andrew & Funk, Chris & Zinke, Jens & Harrison, Laura. (2016). Modulation of the Southern Africa precipitation response to the El Niño Southern Oscillation by the subtropical Indian Ocean Dipole. Climate Dynamics. doi: 48. 10.1007/s00382-016-3220-6.
Mahowald, Natalie & Lo, Fiona & Zheng, Yun & Harrison, Laura & Funk, Chris & Lombardozzi, Danica & Goodale, Christine. (2016). Projections of leaf area index in Earth system models. Earth System Dynamics. doi: 7. 211-229. 10.5194/esd-7-211-2016.
