Lars Peter Riishojgaard Joins UMD to Direct the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center

Lars Peter Riishojgaard will join the University of Maryland on January 1, 2025, as director of the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) following an international search. Currently a consultant, Riishojgaard most recently held leadership roles at the World Meteorological Organization from 2014 to 2023.

“ESSIC is placed at a critical juncture between a major research university and two federal agencies, NASA and NOAA, with significant capabilities, expertise and experience in Earth system science and observations,” Riishojgaard said. “I see great potential for ESSIC to be the catalyst that further strengthens the links between the agencies and the university and helps them translate their immense knowledge and expertise into tangible benefits for all individual citizens and for all sectors of the economy.”

In his new role, Riishojgaard will lead ESSIC, a center established in 1999 through a cooperative agreement with the Earth Sciences Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to support research, teaching and career training in Earth system science. ESSIC also administers the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS), a joint center with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service.

“Lars Peter brings a deep understanding of Earth system science to his new leadership role at Maryland,” said Amitabh Varshney, dean of UMD’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. “His experiences at NASA and the World Meteorological Organization will be a true asset for ESSIC.”

The broad goal of ESSIC is to understand the relationships between Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land masses and biosphere, with a focus on the influence of human activities on Earth’s coupled systems. Major research thrusts include numerical weather prediction, climate variability and change, atmospheric composition and processes, the global carbon cycle and the global water cycle.

As the largest research center at UMD—with 14 academic faculty members and 175 professional-track research faculty members—ESSIC serves a unique role as a collaboration hub within the national Earth system science research community by linking research efforts at UMD’s Departments of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Geology, and Geographical Sciences with NASA and NOAA.

In 2022, NASA awarded ESSIC a new five-year, $95 million cooperative agreement. In 2024, NOAA renewed CISESS with a five-year, $388 million cooperative funding agreement. A national consortium of more than three dozen academic and nonprofit institutions, CISESS researchers address the grand challenge of understanding how human activity interacts with Earth’s environment as a coupled system.

“As communities both domestically and around the globe become exposed to increasingly adverse weather, climate and other environmental conditions, there is a growing need to pull together knowledge, methodologies and data from different scientific disciplines to help ensure that information needed for the safety of life, protection of property and maintenance of livelihoods and economic prosperity is generated and made routinely available,” Riishojgaard said. “The University of Maryland is a research powerhouse and well placed in the D.C. area to interact with political decision-makers and policymakers to ensure that the nation reaps the full benefits of its investment in Earth system observations and Earth system science.”

Throughout his career, Riishojgaard has developed innovative approaches to maximizing the information that can be extracted from observations—especially satellite observations—across various Earth science disciplines.

In his most recent leadership role at WMO, Riishojgaard led the development of the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch, which was endorsed by the World Meteorological Congress and recognized at the United Nations climate summit, COP28. Prior to that, he led the development of the WMO Global Basic Observing Network and the overhaul of the WMO Data Policy (formerly known as Resolution 40), which sets the ground rules for the international exchange of all weather and climate data.

From 2007 to 2014, Riishojgaard directed the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation, a multi-agency research center focused on improving the use of satellite data for analyzing and predicting the weather, the ocean, the climate and the environment. From 1995 to 2007, he held various positions at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. His contributions include the proof of concept that total ozone measurements from satellites can be converted into estimates of atmospheric flow in the lower stratosphere and the design of a global operational three-dimensional satellite data assimilation for ozone and other trace gases.

Riishojgaard earned his master’s in mathematics and physics in 1989 and his Ph.D. in geophysics in 1992 from the University of Copenhagen.

Riishojgaard succeeds Ralph Ferraro, who served as interim ESSIC director after Ellen Williams retired in December 2023.