Self Advocacy Statement
Alan F. Hamlet
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Climate Impacts Group at the
University of Washington have provided many ongoing opportunities and resources which have
supported me in building a strong research program within the department, producing an extensive and
high-impact publication record in the peer reviewed literature, and establishing important long-term
relationships to the diverse stakeholder community in the Pacific Northwest associated with water and
water resources management.
Teaching
Although research faculty are traditionally offered relatively few opportunities to teach, I have
made a particular effort to participate in graduate curriculum development as well as teaching both
undergraduate and graduate courses during my current appointment. Courses taught over the past four
years in CEE:
CEE 576, Water Resources Planning, (fall quarter, 2008) (student evaluation score 3.7)
CEE 491, Deterministic Systems, (spring quarter, 2011) (student evaluation score 3.6)
(CEE 491 will now be offered on a yearly basis as a core course in the hydrology and water
resources group.)
As a frequent guest lecturer on topics related to climate, water, and the environment in
undergraduate classes offered by CEE, I've contributed to CEE 100, 200, 360, 440, 481. I am also a
regular guest instructor in two climate-related graduate courses developed and taught by members of the
Climate Impacts Group and offered by the School of Marine Affairs (SMA):
SMA 585, Climate Impacts on the Pacific Northwest (N. Mantua and A. Snover instructors),
University of Washington (2002-2009)
SMA 521, Governmental Responses to Global Climate Change (Edward Miles instructor) (20092010)
Currently, I'm developing a prospectus in support of a new course on solar energy applications
(PV, solar hot water, and solar air conditioning) with several other colleagues in the department with the
long-term goal of developing a research and teaching emphasis in this area.
(See also the description of K-12 outreach and teaching activities under Service below.)
Research
Overview
Throughout the past 15 years I have had joint affiliation with CEE and the nationally and
internationally recognized Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington. My interests focus
on collaborative, interdisciplinary research addressing the complex interface between climate variability
and change; hydrology; water resources planning and management; and related impacts to ecosystems,
man-made systems, and infrastructure. Specific research interests (with selected publications) include:
 Land surface hydrology and modeling (Elsner et al. 2010; Hamlet and Lettenmaier 2005;
Hamlet et al. 2005, 2007; Leung et al. 1999; Mote et al. 2005; Painter et al. 2010)
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 Impacts of Climate Variability and Change on Snowpack (Mote et al. 2005, 2007; Hamlet et
al. 2005)
 Integrated hydrological and water resources modeling (Hamlet and Lettenmaier 1999a; Miles
et al. 2000; Payne et al. 2004; Vano et al. 2010)
 Water resources planning and management (Hamlet 2003; Lee et al. 2009, 2010; Miles et al.
2000; Payne et al. 2004 )
 Flooding and assessment of hydrologic extremes (Hamlet and Lettenmaier 2007; Mantua et al.
2010; Lee et al. 2009, 2010, 2011)
 Impacts of climate variability and climate change on hydrology and water resources
(Hamlet and Lettenmaier 1999a; Hamlet and Lettenmaier 1999b; Hamlet 2003; Miles et al. 2000;
Mote et al. 2003; Adam et al. 2009; Elsner et al. 2010)
 Sustainable water resources management and climate change adaptation strategies (Miles et
al. 2000; Hamlet 2003; Snover et al. 2003; Slaughter et al. 2010; Whitely Binder et al. 2010; Hamlet
2011 )
 Long-lead climate and streamflow forecasts and related water resources applications
(Hamlet and Lettenmaier 1999b; Hamlet et al. 2002; Voisin et al. 2006; Lee et al. 2011)
 Modeling of freshwater, and estuarine ecosystems (Crozier et al. 2007; Wenger et al. 2010,
2011; Mantua et al. 2010)
 Forest hydrology and impacts to terrestrial ecosystems
 Paleoclimatic precipitation and streamflow reconstruction (Lutz et al. 2011)
 Climate impacts on hydropower and energy systems (Hamlet and Lettenmaier 1999a, Hamlet
et al. 2002; Voisin et al. 2006; Hamlet et al. 2010)
 Climate services and outreach programs (Gamble et al. 2002; Snover et al. 2003)
From 1996 to about 2005, my research was equally focused on topics related to climate
variability (e.g. use of ENSO forecasts for hydrologic forecasts and water management applications) and
climate change impacts assessment. Research since about 2005 has been increasingly focused on
integrated, interdisciplinary assessment of climate change impacts to water resources systems and
terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and on the development of adaptation strategies and quantitative
decision support systems in the water sector.
This shift in research focus has been motivated primarily by the extreme demand for these
services following the release of the 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report and the growing awareness of
escalating impacts worldwide. Highlights of this research and outreach work include the 2009
Washington State Climate Change Impacts Assessment conducted by the CIG and a recent three-year
project resulting in the development of a comprehensive database of climate change scenarios in support
of water resources planning and ecosystem research (http://www.hydro.washington.edu/2860/).
Meanwhile, I have continued to pursue many specific topics related to climate variability. Recent
projects have focused, for example, on paleoclimatic streamflow reconstruction, the future implications of
interannual and interdecadal precipitation variability, use of ENSO forecasts in flood control operations,
and the assessment of hydrologic extremes in Pacific Northwest watersheds.
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Publication Impact Statistics
Figure 1. Graphical Summary of Publication Statistics. (Source: Web of Knowledge on-line analysis)
Table 2. Summary of Publication Impact Statistics (Source: Web of Knowledge on-line analysis)
Number of peer-reviewed journal publications
Number of citations (without self-citations)
Number of Citing Articles (without self-citations)
Average citations per publication
H-index score
Number of publications with at least 50 citations
32
1114
780
39.34
16
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Summary of Research Funding
A detailed listing of research funding is provided in the CV. These numbers are summarized in
the following table.
Table 1. Research Funding Summary
Year
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Total
Number of
Funded
Grants
2
2
5
6
2
17
Total Awards
Awards to PI
687,829
86,263
603,382
1,716,406
125,369
3,219,249
542,598
86,263
398,646
398,213
125,369
1,551,089
Support of Students, Post-Docs, and Staff Researchers
My research lab supports a mix of students, post-docs, and staff researchers. In fall of 2007, Prof.
Steve Burges approached me about jointly advising PhD student Se-Yeun Lee and helping to find both
financial support for her and a suitable dissertation project. I accepted this offer and worked with her to
design a dissertation project which resulted in three important journal articles on flood control adaptation
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to climate change impacts (Lee et al. 2009, 2010, 2011). I supported Dr. Lee with RA funding for
approximately two years. Currently, Dr. Lee is working with me as a post-doc. I made several competitive
offers to top-tier students applying to the department in 2008 and 2009, but was ultimately unsuccessful
in recruiting them (both went to MIT). Although this was a setback, I was able to hire excellent post-docs
and staff researchers to fulfill various project needs. My MS student, Christian Michelson, was graduated
in 2009, with a thesis on the impacts of climate change on the PNW white water rafting industry. Prof.
Jessica Lundquist and I have been jointly advising an MS student, Nic Wayand, who has just passed his
master’s defense this summer and will complete his thesis project this fall. I am currently supporting two
additional MS students, one incoming PhD student, one post-doc, and three professional staff positions. I
am also mentoring two post-docs who are visiting with their own outside fellowships.
Importance of Collaborative Research Activities to Regional Stakeholders
Hydrologic impacts are an intermediary impact pathway in nearly every sector affected by
climate change. My research has played an important ongoing role in providing key scientific
information to a wide range of regional stakeholders as they assess impacts and develop long-term
adaptation strategies. Relevance of my research to Pacific Northwest stakeholders has been greatly
amplified by my collaboration with the Climate Impacts Group (CIG), whose internationally-recognized
outreach and education programs have provided not only a pathway for the dissemination of new
scientific results and information but also crucial feedback on needed products and services. These needs
have guided many of my research choices. Examples of these ongoing interactions with stakeholders
include the CIG’s contributions to the U.S. National Assessment of Climate Variability and Change in
1999 (Mote et al. 2003); the King Co. Climate Change Assessment in 2005
(http://www.kingcounty.gov/exec/globalwarming/environmental/2005-climate-change-conference.aspx);
the Washington State Climate Change Impacts Assessment in 2009
(http://cses.washington.edu/cig/res/ia/waccia.shtml); and the Columbia Basin Climate Change Scenarios
Project in 2010 (http://www.hydro.washington.edu/2860/). The CIG has also produced a large number of
scientific reports for individual management agencies, to which I have been a frequent contributor
(http://cses.washington.edu/db/pubs/author4.shtml). Recent examples include a comprehensive climate
change assessment report for Seattle City Light (Hamlet et al. 2010;
http://www.cityofseattle.net/light/news/issues/irp/docs/dbg_538_app_n_4.pdf): a transportation white
paper for the Western Federal Lands-Highway Division on climate impacts to the federal highway system
in the PNW (Hamlet 2011); and contributions to the River Management Joint Operating Committee’s
climate change study of the Columbia Hydro System. I am currently involved in more than 17 individual
projects with regional stakeholders supported by the Climate Impacts Group.
In the past several years there has been a significant shift in climate change adaptation work
towards smaller geographic scales. For example, the Skagit Climate Science Consortium (SC2) (of which
I am a founding member) was formed in 2009 with similar objectives to the CIG, but focuses solely on
the Skagit River basin in the North Cascades in WA. Research efforts on even finer geographic scales are
becoming more common. The Communities Adapting to Climate Change project in British Columbia
(for which I have been a long-time member of the scientific advisory board) focuses entirely on
adaptation at the community scale.
Service
Within CEE, my service activities include program and curriculum development activities for the
hydrology and water resources group as well as serving, typically, on three to five graduate student
committees each year. I review three to six journal articles per year, and often one or two large reports or
proposals. Outreach and education activities via the Climate Impacts Group and the Skagit Climate
Science Consortium provide me with extensive opportunities for public service via active participation in
meetings, workshops, panels, and conferences. I typically give between 25 and 30 presentations a year at
these kinds of events. In many cases, I serve in an advisory role, collaborating with various stakeholder
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groups such as assisting the WA Department of Ecology in developing a climate change adaptation
strategy for the entire state and advising the River Management Joint Operating Committee on climate
change studies over the last two years. I also invest approximately two weeks of full-time effort each
year as a pro bono advisor to the Skagit Climate Science Consortium, of which I am also a founding
member. In 2008, 2009, and 2010 I was a member of the advisory board for the Communities Adapting
to Climate Change project in BC, Canada.
I have also been active over the last five years in pro bono outreach activities serving the K-12
community via participation in teacher education workshops focused on climate and watershed/ocean
studies (Seattle Aquarium in 2008, 2009, 2010), as well as elementary school classroom demonstrations
of the impacts of climate change on water resources using a home-made physical watershed simulation
model. (I first built the demonstration model for the 2005 Civil Engineering Open House and won the
Grand Prize for Best Overall Demonstration). We are currently seeking long-term funding to expand
these important teaching opportunities for younger students in Seattle area schools.
As mentioned above, I am currently working with several colleagues in the department to develop
a new program in CEE on solar energy applications, which I believe will ultimately result in new and
exciting opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in this important research area.
Selected Publications
Hamlet, A.F., Lettenmaier, D.P., 2007: Effects of 20th Century Warming and Climate Variability on
Flood Risk in the Western U.S., Water Resour. Res., 43, W06427, doi:10.1029/2006WR005099
(This widely cited article established the sensitivity of flood risk in rivers in the western U.S. to observed
20th century warming and its fundamental relationship to winter temperature regimes. The study was also
important in establishing the effects of projected climate change on flood risk in mountain watersheds
which have been used as the foundation for later studies (e.g. Mantua et al. 2010). Effects of climate
variability (e.g. ENSO) and 20th century changes in precipitation variability on flooding were also
quantified.)
Hamlet, A.F., S.Y. Lee, K.E.B. Mickelson, M.M. Elsner, 2010: Effects of projected climate change on
energy supply and demand in the Pacific Northwest and Washington State, Climatic Change, doi:
10.1007/s10584-010-9857-y
(This study was included in the Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment in 2009, and covered
new ground in assessing the role of projected climate change on regional energy supply and demand in
the PNW, including the assessment of changing seasonal hydropower resources, and changing energy
demand in the context of warming, increasing population, and increasing air conditioning penetration.)
Lee, S-Y., A. F. Hamlet, C. J. Fitzgerald, and S. J. Burges, 2009: Optimized Flood Control in the
Columbia River Basin for a Global Warming Scenario, ASCE J. Water Resources Planning and
Management, DOI 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9496(2009), 135:6(440), 135(6) 440-450
(This study developed important new techniques for rebalancing complex water systems in the face of
altered streamflow timing and changing flood risks using sophisticated optimization approaches. Such
studies, which can be used to generate new operating policies, are likely to play an important role in the
adaptation of existing reservoir operations to a changing environment.)
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