David Robinson

DepartmentOrganizationEmailPhoneAddressPiscataway , New Jersey 08854United StatesBioDr. David A. Robinson is a Professor in the Department of Geography at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He also serves as New Jerseys State Climatologist. He received a BS in geology (1977) from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA and earned a doctorate in earth sciences (1984) from Columbia University. He was an Associate Research Scientist at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (1984-1988) prior to heading to Rutgers (1988-present). He became State Climatologist in 1991, leading an office that tends to the weather/climate data, research and outreach needs of a vast array of stakeholders, including maintaining an operational weather network of 60 stations.

Dr. Robinsons research interests are in applied climate, especially related to New Jersey, and in climate dynamics and change, particularly focused on global snow cover. His research has been funded via 90 grants from NSF, NOAA, NASA, USDA and various NJ state agencies. He has published 130 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters and has presented close to 300 conference and invited lectures. His efforts include managing a database of satellite-derived snow extent over Northern Hemisphere continents. The digitized snow maps extend back to the late 1960s and are used in national and international climate assessments.

Robinson is a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and sits on the National Academy of Sciences Board of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate. He has chaired two National Research Council panels and the American Meteorological Society's Polar Meteorology and Oceanography Committee, and is a past president of the American Association of State Climatologists. Dr. Robinson is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and has received a NOAA Environmental Hero award, as well as the Lifetime Achievement award of the Association of American Geographers Climate Specialty Group. Dr. Robinson teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in climatology, physical geography and remote sensing.

Science Specialties

climate change, cryosphere, snow

Current Research

Snow cover distribution over northern hemisphere lands.Snow cover charting using satellite and in situ data.Snow-climate interactions.