Staff information

Biography

Dr. Kraucunas is the Chief Science and Technology Officer for the Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate (EBSD) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). In this role, his responsibilities include strategic planning, capability development, and managing EBSD's internal research investment portfolio. From 2015 through mid-2020, Kraucunas served as the Director of PNNL's Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, which includes almost 200 staff with expertise ranging from fundamental atmospheric physics to regional and global climate modeling to climate impact analysis.

Kraucunas has also led several multi-institutional projects funded by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. He is currently the principal investigator for Integrated Coastal Modeling (ICoM), which was launched in late 2019 and focuses on developing and applying integrated modeling platforms to simulate human and natural systems in coastal regions, with an initial focus on the Mid-Atlantic. He is also involved in projects in the Great Lakes and Puget Sound regions. Previously, Kraucunas served as principal investigator for a series of projects aimed at developing integrated modeling platforms for studying the interactions among energy, land, water, and climate systems across multiple scales.

Prior to joining PNNL, Dr. Kraucunas worked at the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, where he served as the study director for major reports on Surface Temperature Reconstructions, Environmental Data Management, and America's Climate Choices. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington, where his graduate research focused on using numerical models to study the large-scale of the tropical atmosphere.

Research Interests

• Integrated human-Earth system modeling
• Coastal science
• Impacts of climate and global change

Education and Credentials

• Ph.D. University of Washington, Department of Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Management Certificate, University of Washington, Program on the Environment
• M.S. University of Washington, Department of Atmospheric Sciences
• B.A. University of Virginia, Physics and Environmental Sciences

Affiliations and Professional Service

• American Meteorological Society
• American Geophysical Union