CW3E Welcomes Dr. Dennis Lettenmaier as Research Associate

June 11, 2026

CW3E is thrilled to welcome one of the nation’s leading hydrologists to the team. As a Research Associate, Dr. Lettenmaier will work closely with the hydrology team and provide guidance on both the development of hydrologic research as well as operational systems that serve the missions of CW3E.

Dr. Lettenmaier is a Distinguished Professor of Geography at UCLA, where he leads the Land Surface Hydrology Research Group. His research focuses on hydrological modeling and prediction, hydrologic remote sensing, hydrology-climate interactions, and water management. Recent work from his group includes studies on the growing impact of wildfire on the western U.S. water supply and contextualizing California’s historic 2023 snow deluge against future climate change.

Dr. Lettenmaier received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (summa cum laude) from the University of Washington, his M.S. in Civil, Mechanical, and Environmental Engineering from George Washington University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1975. He was a faculty member at the University of Washington for nearly four decades before joining UCLA in 2014. He has also served as a visiting scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey and as program manager of NASA’s Land Surface Hydrology Program.

He is the author or co-author of over 350 journal articles and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is a Fellow of AGU, AMS, and AAAS, and has received numerous honors, including the AMS Charney Medal (2017) and AGU’s Horton Medal (2018) for outstanding contributions to hydrology. He served as the first Chief Editor of the AMS Journal of Hydrometeorology and as past President of AGU’s Hydrology Section.