Dr. Duane Waliser is Chief Scientist of the Earth Science and Technology Directorate at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, which formulates, develops, and operates of a wide range of Earth science remote sensing instruments for NASA’s airborne and satellite program. His role in this capacity is to provide science guidance and scrutiny to mission concept, development and implementation across the breadth of JPL’s Earth Science program. His research interests lie in Earth system process understanding, weather-climate linkages and their prediction; and interactions between the Earth’s water, energy and carbon cycles. His recent foci at JPL involves working within NASA and across agencies to enable and enhance societal benefits from our growing understanding, observing and modeling capabilities of the Earth System. Dr. Waliser is also a Visiting Associate in the Geological and Planetary Sciences Division at Caltech, an Adjunct Professor in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department at UCLA. He received a B.S. in physics and a B.S. in computer science from Oregon State University in 1985, an M.S. in physics from UC San Diego in 1987, and his Ph.D. in physical oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego in 1992.