Richard B. Rood

Richard B. (Ricky) Rood is an American atmospheric scientist and professor emeritus in the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan.[1] [2]Prior to his retirement he also held an appointment in the School for Environment and Sustainability and was a Dow Sustainability Distinguished Faculty Fellow.[3] Rood is known for his work in climate modeling, science policy, education, and public communication of climate science.[4][5]

Education and career

Rood received his M.S. and Ph.D. in meteorology from Florida State University.[3] Early in his career, he held prominent roles at NASA, where he contributed to the development of Earth system models and received the agency's Outstanding Leadership Medal and the Exceptional Achievement Medal.[6]

At the University of Michigan, Rood served as the faculty advisor for the Master of Engineering in Applied Climate and also guided the undergraduate curriculum on climate impacts.[7]

Rood has made contributions to several fields of research. [8] The numerical scheme he developed with Shian-Jiann Lin of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory is used in many atmospheric chemistry models and global climate models.[9] As the founding Head of the Data Assimilation Office, Rood was responsible for the first reanalysis dataset, GEOS-1.[10] The GEOS-1 data set in combination with the above-referenced numerical schemes became the foundation for GEOS-CHEM.[11]

In 1999, Rood was detailed to the Office of Science and Technology Policy. He was the lead author of an influential report on development of a federal strategy for the provision of climate-modeling products and high-performance computing capabilities.[12][13] He has contributed to two National Research Council reports on climate modeling and computing.[14][15]

Rood was the climate change blogger for the Weather Underground (weather service) through early 2017, and his writings are widely reproduced on the web and cited in blogs and media outlets.[16][17][18] In 2016 with Andrew Gettelmen, Rood published an open-access users guide entitled Demystifying Climate Models.

NOAA and UMAC

Rood has played a role in efforts to reform and improve U.S. operational climate and weather modeling.[19] He served as co-chair of the Unified Model Advisory Committee (UMAC), an external advisory group established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide recommendations on the development and implementation of the Unified Forecast System (UFS).[20] UMAC’s 2015 report was instrumental in shaping NOAA's strategy for numerical environmental prediction. [21]

Climate Education and Curriculum Development

Rood also worked in climate change education and curriculum design.[22]

His educational materials have been adapted for use beyond the university, including in high school classrooms (in collaboration with educator Tim Muhich) and in medical school settings. His approach focused systems thinking and applied problem-solving in climate science.[23]

Science Communication

Rood has been active in public science communication for more than a decade.[24] He writes the long-running “Climate Blue” column, which explores climate issues from scientific, policy, and societal perspectives.[25] He is also a frequent contributor to The Conversation. Through these platforms, Rood addresses topics such as climate adaptation, emissions policy, and the evolving relationship between science and public trust.[1]

Climate Change Adaptation and Great Lakes Research

In the past decade, Rood has expanded his work to focus on climate change adaptation, with a portion centered on the Great Lakes region.[26] Through his role with the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments (GLISA) program; a NOAA-supported initiative, Rood has contributed to applied climate science aimed at helping communities and governments better prepare for and respond to the local impacts of climate change.[27]

His research and outreach highlight the importance of improving the “fit-for-purpose” design of global climate models, which were originally built for long-term projections but are now being repurposed to guide near-term adaptation efforts; Rood has emphasized that current simulations especially those from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) often fall short in supporting localized decisions, such as those required for designing long-lived infrastructure or managing water systems.[28]

By using the Great Lakes region as a case study, Rood has pointed to specific challenges in applying existing model outputs to regional adaptation planning. [29]

Awards

Rood is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society,[30] and he holds the World Meteorological Organization's Norbert Gerbier Award.[31] He has been recognized with the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal and NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal.

Selected publications

  • Rood, Richard B. (1987). "Numerical advection algorithms and their role in atmospheric transport and chemistry models". Reviews of Geophysics. 25 (1): 71–100. doi:10.1029/RG025i001p00071. ISSN 8755-1209.
  • Jackman, Charles H.; Douglass, Anne R.; Rood, Richard B.; McPeters, Richard D.; Meade, Paul E. (1990-05-20). "Effect of solar proton events on the middle atmosphere during the past two solar cycles as computed using a two‐dimensional model". Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 95 (D6): 7417–7428. doi:10.1029/JD095iD06p07417. ISSN 0148-0227.

References

  1. ^ a b "How climate change could influence future ice storms in northern Michigan". Interlochen Public Radio. 2025-04-01. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  2. ^ Fair, David (2020-09-23). "Issues Of The Environment: Politics And Climate Change Science Clash As West Coast Wildfires Rage". WEMU-FM. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  3. ^ a b "Richard B. (Ricky) Rood". The Conversation. 2014-12-03. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  4. ^ Rood, Richard B. (2017-07-08). "If we stopped emitting greenhouse gases right now, would we stop climate change?". Salon. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  5. ^ "Ricky Rood - Weather and Its Global Connections". online.umich.edu. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  6. ^ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20030093737/downloads/20030093737.pdf The Earth System Model Mark Schoeberl , Richard B. Rood, and Peter Hildebrand NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Carol Raymond NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  7. ^ "Issues of the Environment: Michigan winters are changing and climate adaptation is key to the future". WEMU-FM. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  8. ^ Brooks, Keegan. "Richard B. Rood: How Fast Can We Stop Earth From Warming?". The Blue & Gold. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  9. ^ Shian, -Jiann Lin. "A "Vertically Lagrangian" Finite-Volume Dynamical Core for Global Models". journals.ametsoc.org. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  10. ^ A Vast Machine. Infrastructures. MIT Press. 12 March 2010. ISBN 9780262013925.
  11. ^ "Narrative description of the GEOS-Chem Model". acmg.seas.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-06-23.
  12. ^ "Climate Modeling Report, Dec 2000. Table of Contents". www.usgcrp.gov. Archived from the original on 2001-02-01.
  13. ^ "Scientists call for a climate research agency -".
  14. ^ Capacity of U.S. Climate Modeling to Support Climate Change Assessment Activities. The National Academies Press. 1998. doi:10.17226/6365. ISBN 978-0-309-06375-3.
  15. ^ Studies, Division on Earth Life; Climate, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and; Modeling, Committee on A. National Strategy for Advancing Climate (2012). A National Strategy for Advancing Climate Modeling. doi:10.17226/13430. ISBN 978-0-309-25977-4. OSTI 1056475.
  16. ^ "The Signal and the Noise - Books by Nate Silver - Penguin Group (USA)". Archived from the original on 2012-09-08.
  17. ^ "U.S. Obsessed over the Superstorm, but ignored the climate behind it - the Globe and Mail". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2013-05-04. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  18. ^ Richard B. Rood* (2013-03-08). "To be the best in weather forecasting". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
  19. ^ Perkins, Tom (2019-09-03). "'Bigger picture, it's climate change': Great Lakes flood ravages homes and roads". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  20. ^ "NOAA's emerging effort in community modeling | dtcenter.org". dtcenter.org. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  21. ^ https://ufs.epic.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/20160811_UMAC_Outbrief_Doc_20161104_17_37.pdf Report of the UCACN Model Advisory Committee 05 October 2016 UMAC is a sub-committee of the UCAR Community Advisory Committee for NCEP (UCACN) Administered by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
  22. ^ "Keeping our focus on climate". Michigan Today. 2025-03-28. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  23. ^ Muhich, Timothy E.; and Rood, Richard B. (2022-09-01). "CCE for Me: Students demand high-quality climate change course offerings". The Science Teacher. 90 (1): 34–37. doi:10.1080/00368555.2022.12293724. ISSN 0036-8555.
  24. ^ Fair, David (2021-01-20). "Issues Of The Environment: Biden Administration To Better Address Climate Crisis". WEMU-FM. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  25. ^ "Climate Blue". Michigan Today. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  26. ^ Rood, Richard B.; Gibbons, Elizabeth (2021-09-11). "Perspective | After a summer of weather horrors, adapting to climate change is an imperative". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  27. ^ https://cpo.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GLISA-Annual-Report-2015.pdf Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments Center 2015
  28. ^ Rood, Richard B. (2025-04-15). "To adapt to climate change, we need better models » Yale Climate Connections". Yale Climate Connections. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  29. ^ Briley, Laura J.; Rood, Richard B.; Notaro, Michael (2021). "Large lakes in climate models: A Great Lakes case study on the usability of CMIP5". Journal of Great Lakes Research. 47 (2): 405–418. doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2021.01.010. ISSN 0380-1330.
  30. ^ "List of AMS Fellows". American Meteorological Society. 24 March 2013. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  31. ^ "Winners of Norbert Gerbier-MUMM International Award". Archived from the original on 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
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