About Tsegaye
Dr. Tadesse joined the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) in August 1998 as a graduate research assistant pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL). From July 2002 to May 2005, he served as a research associate in a collaborative research projects including “Drought monitoring through integration of satellite and climate data” with scientists at the National Center for Earth Resources Observation & Science (EROS) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. At present, he is a research professor of applied climate and remote sensing within the School of Natural Resources (SNR) and a Geospatial coordinator within the NDMC. Since 2005, Professor Tadesse has been involved in a wide range of multidisciplinary national and international collaborative projects, working with researchers at several federal agencies (e.g., NASA, NOAA, USDA, and USGS), World Bank, and United Nations organizations (such as WMO, FAO, and UNCCD). He has served as a drought monitoring expert and/or consultant for activities in Africa, Asia, North America, South America, and Europe. His responsibilities include establishing a research program on drought monitoring and prediction tools using satellite, oceanic, climate, and biophysical data in support of remote sensing, GIScience, and other science based drought research at the NDMC in collaboration with national and international institutes; developing drought monitoring and prediction tools for the United States and other regions of the world, employing artificial intelligence techniques as appropriate; and playing a significant role in conducting scientific research to help educate students and the public about drought management and planning issues. His research interests include applying data mining and remote sensing techniques to drought; climate change issues, monitoring and impact assessment of drought (including drought impact on food security and health) at global, regional and local scales.
Education
- Ph.D. in 2002 in agrometeorology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, specializing in agricultural meteorology and data mining techniques. Dissertation: Identifying Drought and Its Associations with Climatic and Oceanic Parameters Using Data Mining Techniques
- M.S.S. in 1998 in space studies from the International Space University, Strasbourg (France), specializing in remote sensing application to drought
- B.Sc. in 1982 in physics from Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia)