Dara Entekhabi

Dara Entekhabi is a Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He leads the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite mission as Science Team Lead and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in hydrology and land-atmosphere interactions.

Education

• B.A. (1983) from Clark University
• M.A. (1984, 1987) from Clark University
• Ph.D. (1990) from MIT

Research Focus

His research explores Earth system interactions through seven key domains: remote sensing of terrestrial systems, land-atmosphere coupling, boundary layer physics, winter extratropical atmospheric dynamics, data assimilation techniques, surface/groundwater exchange, and hillslope hydrological processes.

Awards & Honors

• Fellow of AGU, AMS, and IEEE
• Member of National Academy of Engineering
• NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal
• AGU Macelwane Medal & Hydrologic Sciences Award
• AMS Horton Lecture & Atlas Remote Sensing Prize
• NSF Presidential Young Investigator

Academic Leadership

He directs the NASA SMAP mission science team and maintains research collaborations across hydrology, climate science, and remote sensing disciplines.