Mike Marshall
About Mike's Work
Michael is broadly interested in the impacts of climate variability and change on society. After receiving his BS in physics from UCSD, he served as a United States Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania. Michael managed several projects dealing with soil and water conservation. He received a Fulbright Fellowship after earning his MA in Environmental Science and Policy at Clark University to evaluate the socioeconomic impacts of climate change on the spread of malaria and cholera in communities around Lake Victoria.
He is currently pursuing his PhD in Geography at UC Santa Barbara. His research group develops and distributes seasonal rainfall forecasts to the Famine Early Warning System Network, a group of federal and international agencies combating food insecurity in Central America and sub-Saharan Africa. His dissertation title is 'The Influence of Evapotranspiration on Rainfall Variability in sub-Saharan Africa.' He has synthesized remote sensing and climate reanalysis to parameterize a low cost and effective evapotranspiration model. It is expected that this model will improve rainfall forecasts for the most food insecure regions in sub-Saharan Africa.