Adjunct Professor and Statistical Computing Consultant Christopher Paciorek has been appointed as a member of a new National Academy of Sciences committee that will consider approaches for estimating probable maximum precipitation (PMP) in a changing climate. The Committee will make recommendations for the development of an updated approach that can serve as a national standard for estimating probable maximum precipitation in a changing climate.

"The Department of Statistics is thrilled that Christopher's appointment to a committee that will profoundly impact climate change scholarship," said Chair Haiyan Huang. "Christopher is not only a brilliant scholar and researcher, but he is also a crucial part of our community." 

Paciorek joined Berkeley Statistics in 2009 following appointments at the Harvard School of Public Health and Carnegie Mellon University. He currently serves as Adjunct Professor and Statistical Computing Consultant. His statistical expertise is in Bayesian statistics and spatial statistics with primary application to environmental and public health research. Paciorek's research in recent years has focused on methodology and applied work in a variety of areas, in particular: the development of the NIMBLE software for hierarchical models, prediction of past vegetation using paleoecological proxy data, Bayesian methods for global health monitoring with a focus on combining disparate sources of information, and statistical methods for the analysis of extreme weather and climate events.

The PMP committee is sponsored by the Department of Commerce, with members from throughout higher education and government. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is a private, nonprofit institution that provides expert advice on some of the most pressing challenges facing the nation and world. Their work helps shape sound policies, inform public opinion, and advance the pursuit of science, engineering, and medicine.

-Alex Coughlin