Laurence S. Kalkstein, Ph.D.

(Louisiana State University, 1974)

Research Professor

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Research Professor Kalkstein is a bioclimatologist whose specialty is the impact of weather on human health. He is principal investigator on a number of contracted research projects dealing with the assessment, development, and implementation of heat/health watch-warning systems for major cities worldwide. He has also been involved in the development of various weather indices for use in applied climatological analysis. These include air mass-based synoptic classifications and the development of a relative climatological index, the Heat Stress Index (funded by NOAA/National Climatic Data Center). Prof. Kalkstein and his colleagues at the Synoptic Climatology Laboratory have worked on research with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop cool initiatives to lower urban structural temperatures with the hope of saving the lives of people vulnerable to heat stress. He is also working with the EPA to develop a standard set of intervention measures for cities when heat emergencies are declared. Other ongoing projects include work with the U.S. Forest Service on a model which can forecast the movement of gypsy moths, and with the National Weather Service on a cattle cold warning system for the northern Plains. Dr. Kalkstein is under long-term contract with the Korean government to develop and implement heat warning systems for every major city in that country. He is also a leader on the World Meteorological Association's expert team on extreme weather and human health.

Feature Articles

• Weather/health watch from Veritas

Representative Publications:

• Sheridan, S.C., L.S. Kalkstein, 2004. Progress in Heat Watch-Warning System Technology. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 85: 1931-41.
• Hayhoe, K, L.S. Kalkstein, and other authors, 2004. Emissions Pathways, Climate Change, and Impacts on California. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101: 12422-27.
• Kalkstein, L.S., 2005. The 2003 European Heat Wave and Analog Studies for U.S. Cities. IN: Harvard Medical School, UNDP, SwissRE, Climate Change Futures: Health, Ecological, and Economic Dimensions, 53-58.
• Tan, J., Y. Zheng, G. Song, L. Kalkstein, A. Kalkstein, and X. Tang, 2007. Heat Wave Impacts on Mortality in Shanghai: 1998 to 2003. International Journal of Biometeorology 51:193-200.
• Kalkstein, L.S., J.S. Greene, D. Mills, and A. Perrin, 2008. The Development of Analog European Heat Waves for U.S. Cities to Analyze Impacts on Heat-Related Mortality. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 89: 75-86.
• Kalkstein, L.S., and S.C. Sheridan, 2008. A New Generation of Heat/Health Warning Systems for Seoul and Other Major Korean Cities. Meteorological Technology and Policy 1:62-68.