معرفی
Dr. David Tarboton is a Sant Endowed Professor of Water Resources Engineering at the Utah Water Research Laboratory and in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Utah State University. His work bridges hydrology and information technology, developing tools and models for hydrologic prediction and water resource management.
Dr. Tarboton earned his Sc.D. and M.S. in Civil Engineering (Water Resources and Hydrology) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989 and 1987, respectively. He also holds a Diploma in Datametrics (Computer Science) from the University of South Africa (1984) and a B.Sc. Eng in Civil Engineering from the University of Natal in South Africa (1981).
His research focuses on advancing hydrologic prediction capabilities through the development of models that leverage new information and process understanding enabled by technology. Dr. Tarboton's work synthesizes modeling and numerical analysis with field observations and hydrologic information systems, tailoring software and computing systems to hydrologists' needs. He has made significant contributions to terrain analysis in hydrology, hydrologic modeling, and snowmelt processes. His research crosses the disciplinary interface between hydrology and information technology, with particular emphasis on hydrologic information systems and stochastic hydrology.
Dr. Tarboton's recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on collaborative hydrologic information systems, with particular emphasis on HydroShare, a platform he leads the development of for sharing hydrologic data and models. His work increasingly integrates machine learning, cloud computing, and reproducible research methodologies into hydrologic modeling. The research spans applications from the Colorado River Basin to the Great Salt Lake, with growing attention to climate change impacts on water resources.
- Lifetime Achievement Award, 2025, International Society for Geomorphometry
- D. Wynne Thorne Career Research Award, 2023, Utah State University
- David R Maidment Award for Exemplary Contributions to Water Resources Data and Information Systems, 2020, American Water Resources Association
- Fellow, 2018, American Geophysical Union
- Multiple Outstanding Researcher awards from Utah State University (2002, 2005, 2015, 2018)
Dr. Tarboton has mentored over 30 graduate students throughout his career, including numerous PhD candidates in Civil and Environmental Engineering. His research is supported by significant grants from federal agencies including NSF, USGS, and USDA. He serves as Principal Investigator for major projects including the HydroShare platform, the Institute for Geospatial Understanding through an Integrative Discovery Environment (I-GUIDE), and research on the Colorado River Basin's future hydrology.
Dr. Tarboton leads the development of HydroShare (www.hydroshare.org), a hydrologic information system for sharing hydrologic data and models operated by the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI). His research group has developed and supports several open source software packages, including the Terrain Analysis using Digital Elevation Models (TauDEM) package and the Utah Energy Balance snowmelt model.
