Kathy Jacobs

Adaptation Programs/Projects

• Lead PI on the Arizona Tri-University Recharge and Water Reliability Project
• Co-lead of the Sky Islands-Gila Headwaters Collaborative 
• Jacobs is also a member of many boards and advisory committees, most notably, she is a member of the National Academies Board on Environmental Change and Society, a Trustee of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), Chair of the External Advisory Board for the Western Water Assessment, and a member of the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy External Advisory Board.

Employment Highlights

• Director, Third National Climate Assessment (NCA3); Assistant Director, Energy and Environment Division, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President
• Executive Director of the Arizona Water Institute
• Director, Tucson Active Management Area, Arizona Department of Water Resources

Selected Publications

• Gupta, N., L. Bearup, K. Jacobs, E. Halper, C. Castro, H.-I. Chang, J. Fonseca, 2023. Stakeholder-Informed Hydroclimate Scenario Modeling in the Lower Santa Cruz River Basin for Water Resource Management. Water 2023, 15, 1884. https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/10/1884 
• Gupta, N., and K. Jacobs, E. Halper, L. Bearup, B. Kennett, W. Wilson (2022). Lower Santa Cruz River Basin Study: Science Summary of Climate and Surface Water Modeling. University of Arizona, Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
• Kuhn, E., and K.L. Jacobs (2022). Science and Apportionment: Alternative Futures for the Colorado River System in Cornerstone at the Confluence: Navigating the Colorado River Compact’s Next Century (J. Robison, ed). University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.
• McCoy, A.L., K.L. Jacobs, J.A. Vano, J.K. Wilson, S. Martin, A.G. Pendergrass, R. Cifelli (2022). The Press and Pulse of Climate Change: Extreme Events in the Colorado River Basin. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1752-1688.13021.
• Jacobs, K., J. Holway, E. Hanak, R. Quay, F. Sternlieb, and B. Udall. 2022. Impacts and Opportunities at the Climate–Land Use–Energy–Water Interface: An Urgent Call for Dialogue. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 1–9. https://doi. org/10.1111/1752-1688.13014.
• Rivera-Torres, M., A.K. Gerlak, K. Jacobs (2021) Lesson learning in the Colorado River Basin, Water International, doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2021.1913782.
• Gerlak, A.K., K.L. Jacobs, A.L. McCoy, S. Martin, M. Rivera-Torres, A.M. Murveit, A.J. Leinberger, T. Thomure. “Scenario Planning: Embracing the Potential for Extreme Events in the Colorado River Basin.” Climatic Change. Vol. 165, No. 27.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03013-3
• Jacobs, K. L., A. McCoy, S. Martin, and A. K. Gerlak (2020), Reimagining the Colorado River by exploring extreme events, Eos, 101, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EO151369. Published 12 November 2020. 
• Jacobs, K.L. and R.B. Street. The Next Generation of Climate Services. Climate Services Vol 20, 2020, 100199, ISSN 2405-8807, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2020.100199.