Alessandra Giannini (Columbia University, New York, New York)

Submitted: Tues, February 23, 2010


Alessandra Giannini
Associate Research Scientist
International Research Institute for Climate and Society
Columbia University

Adjunct Assistant Professor
School of International & Public Affairs
Columbia University

Mail Address:	
109 Monell
IRI
P.O. Box 1000
Palisades, New York  10964  USA

phone:    845 680 4473
e-mail:   alesall@iri.columbia.edu


Education:

February 2001 - PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, 
with a dissertation on "Climate variability between the Atlantic and 
Pacific Oceans: observations and modeling of Caribbean rainfall."

March 1995 - Laurea in Physics, University of Milan, Italy, with a thesis 
on "Low frequency variability in the wintertime atmosphere of the 
mid-latitudes and its modeling."


Research Interests:

- African climate variability and change; drought and desertification in 
the Sahel; monsoons and climate change.

- ENSO teleconnections and their interaction with variability in remote 
ocean basins; predictability of tropical climate.

- The impact of climate on society; science and policy; the role of local 
knowledge in adaptation to climate change.


Selected Refereed Publications:

2010.  "Mechanisms of climate change in the semi-arid African Sahel: the 
local view." Journal of Climate, 23, 743-756.

2009.  With Greene, A. M. and S. E. Zebiak.
"Drought return times in the Sahel: A question of attribution. Geophysical 
Research Letters, 36, L12701, doi:10.1029/2009GL038868

2009.  With Tufa Dinka et al.
"Designing index-based weather insurance for farmers in Adi Ha, Ethiopia: 
report to Oxfam America, July 2009.  IRI technical report 09-04.  New 
York: International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia 
University.

2008.  With M. Biasutti and M. M. Verstraete. 
"A climate model-based review of drought in the Sahel: desertification, 
the re-greening and climate change." Global and Planetary Change, 64, 
119-128, doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2008.05.004

2008.  With Biasutti, I.M. Held and A. H. Sobel.
"A global perspective on African climate." Climatic Change, 90, 359.383, 
doi:10.1007/s10584-008-9396-y

2006.  With Biasutti, M.
"Robust Sahel drying in response to late 20th century forcings." 
Geophysical Research Letters, 33, doi:10.1029/2006GL026067

2006. With Tippett, M. K. 
"Potentially predictable components of African summer rainfall in a 
SST-forced GCM simulation." Journal of Climate, 19, 3133-3144, 
doi:10.1175/JCLI3779.1

2004.  With R. Saravanan and P. Chang.
"The preconditioning role of Tropical Atlantic Variability in the 
development of the ENSO teleconnection: implications for the prediction 
of Nordeste rainfall." Climate Dynamics, 22, 839-855, doi: 
10.1007/s00382-004-0420-2

2003.  With R. Saravanan and P. Chang.
"Oceanic forcing of Sahel rainfall on interannual to interdecadal time 
scales."  Science, 302, 1027-1030. Published online 9 October 2003. 
doi:10.1126/science.1089357