Education
Ph.D., Dec. 2005 Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University
Thesis: Role of moisture field in the large-scale surface heat exchanges
M.Sc., Mar. 2002 Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University
Thesis: Atlantic atmosphere-ocean response to the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature variations
B.Sc., Mar. 2000 Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science, Tokyo University of Science
Thesis: Ion-acoustic shock wave in a dusty plasma
Research Experience
Jul. 2023 - present: Associate Professor, Department of Plants, Soils & Climate, Utah State University, USA.
Jan. 2017 - Jun. 2023: Assistant Professor, Department of Plants, Soils & Climate, Utah State University, USA.
Mar. 2012 - Dec. 2016: Postdoctoral Fellow, International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA.
Predictability of hydroclimate variations in the Western US on interannual to decadal timescales using state-of-the-art coupled general circulation models, with Prof. Axel Timmermann and co-PIs (Profs. Lowell Stott, David Noone, and Lisa Sloan).
Apr. 2007 - Mar. 2012: Project Researcher, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Near-term climate prediction using a high-resolution coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model, headed by Prof. Masahide Kimoto and collaboration with Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo; Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology; and National Institute for Environmental Studies. (From April 2007 to March 2010, I worked as a project researcher at Center for Climate System Research, University of Tokyo, that has been organized as the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institution from April 2010.)
Dec. 2005 - Mar. 2007: Postdoctoral Fellow, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan.
Characteristics of perturbation associated with tropical intraseasonal oscillation, with Prof. Hitoshi Mukougawa and collaboration with the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Teaching Experience
A Special Lecture for Japanese high school students:
”Is the Earth warming?”, University of Hawaii, October 10, 2014, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Invited Lecture in the 19th Summer School by Meteorological Society of Japan:
”Predictability and dynamics in the tropical atmosphere based on the ensemble predictions”, August 6-8, 2007, Hokkaido, Japan.
April 2002–March 2005, Teaching Assistant, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan:
Supervised graduate-level classes for training computer skills (e.g., programing, analyzing, and drawing by the Fortran language and GrADS on linux and super computer), discussion course based on textbooks (An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology by Holton; Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics by Gill), and observing ocean states by Conductivity Temperature Depth (CTD) profiler and water sampling in a local Bay.
April–September in 2001 and 2002, Teaching Assistant, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan:
Supervised undergraduate classes for providing laboratory experiments (fluid dynamics in a rotating tank to see Taylor-proudman columns, Rossby waves, and Ekman pumping), drawing weather maps in troposphere and stratosphere, and analyzing sea water property by a Temperature-Salinity relationship.
Funding
External sources
NSF, CIVIC
Securing the Future of the Great Salt Lake Basin Through Effective Water and Land Use Partnerships, co-PI, OCT2022-MAR2023.
DOE SC
A Framework for Improving Analysis and Modeling of Earth System and Intersectoral Dynamics at Regional Scales, co-I, SEP2022-AUG2025.
Dept. of Int., BoR
A Platform for Drought Forecast in Intermountain West with the Optimized Multi-model Ensemble Approach, co-I, MAY2022-APR2024.
Dept. of Int., BoR
A Platform Toward an Early Warning System for Shortages in Colorado River Water Supply, PI, AUG2020-JUL2022.
Dept. of Defense, SERDP
Useful Prediction of Climate Extreme Risk for Texas-Oklahoma at 4-6 Years, co-PI, AUG2020-JUL2023.
Dept. of Int., BoR
Synthesizing Drought Characteristics Prediction to Inform Drought Resiliency Decisions from Days to Years, co-PI, SEP2018-AUG2020.
Internal sources
USU UAES operational grant
Climate Impact on Prolonged Drought Forecast and Subsequent Natural Disasters in American West, PI, JUL2022-JUN2027.
USGS Water Research Institute
Developing High-resolution Seasonal Snow Forecasts for Utah’s Watersheds, co-PI, SEP2022-AUG2023.
USU Cedar Mountain Initiative
Climate Drivers for Widespread Aspen Defoliation Events in the Cedar Mountain Area, PI, JUL2021-JUN2024.
USU UAES Seed grant
Modeling the Climate-Water-Food Nexus in the Intermountain West: A Drought Perspective, Co-I, JUL2021-JUN2023.
USU UAES Seed grant
Improving Multi-year Hydrological Predictability in the Intermountain West, PI, AUG2020-JUN2022.
USU UAES operational grant
Climate Predictability and its Impact on Regional Natural Resources, PI, JUL2017-JUN2022.
Young scientist funding
Kyoto University Active Geosphere Investigation for the 21st Century COE Program, PI, APR2006-MAR2007.
Awards
Syono Award (Meteorological Society of Japan, 2018):
Research on decadal climate prediction system development and earth system predictability.
Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan Award in 2013:
Mori, M., M. Kimoto, M. Ishii, S. Yokoi, T. Mochizuki, Y. Chikamoto, M. Watanabe, T. Nozawa, H. Tatebe, T. T. Sakamoto, Y. Komuro, Y. Imada, and H. Koyam, (2013): Hindcast Prediction and Near-Future Projection of Tropical Cyclone Activity over the Western North Pacific Using CMIP5 Near-Term Experiments with MIROC, J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, Vol. 91, pp.431-451, doi:10.2151/jmsj.2013-402.
Professional Service
Media service: How oceans impact Western reservoirs and rivers by High Country News
Press release:Extending climate predictability beyond El Niño, April 21, 2015.
Session co-convener, AGU Fall Meeting (2014, 2019), EGU General Assembly (2018, 2019), JpGU Meeting (2018), AOGS Annual Meeting (2018).
Contributing author for IPCC AR5
Chapter 11 "Near-term Climate Chage: Projections and Predictability"