Join us for the next Baker Energy and Environmental Forum, which will take place on 
Thursday, February 12 from 1:00-2:30 pm in the Baker Center’s Toyota Auditorium.
 
Robert Dickinson, Professor of Geological Sciences at University of Texas, Austin, will 
give a 45-minute presentation and then lead a discussion with participants. Professor 
Dickinson’s talk is titled:  Variability of Great Plains Precipitation – its Dependencies on 
3D Circulation Systems.

Abstract: Precipitation varies diurnally, seasonally, and on inter-annual time scales. This 
variability is connected to radiative and dynamical processes and to some extent captured 
in climate model simulations. This talk looks at some aspects of precipitation variability 
over the US Great Plains: a) why in the Eastern Great Plains is precipitation maximum at 
night, b) what dynamical processes are responsible for variations from year to year, and 
c) what are the linkages to external forcing and their connections to droughts?

Dr. Robert Dickinson joined the Department of Geological Sciences of University of Texas, 
Austin in August of 2008. He has held previous positions including: Professor of 
Atmospheric Sciences, with the Georgia Power/Georgia Research Alliance Chair at the 
Georgia Institute of Technology; Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Regents Professor 
at the University of Arizona; and Senior Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric 
Research. He was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences in 1988, to the US 
National Academy of Engineering in 2002, and a foreign member to the Chinese Academy 
of Sciences in 2006. His research interests are in climate modeling, climate variability 
and change, aerosols, the hydrological cycle and droughts, land surface processes, the 
terrestrial carbon cycle, and the application of remote sensing data to modeling of land 
surface processes.
The Baker Energy and Environmental Forum is an opportunity for academics to share 
their research findings to a broad set of academics, researchers, and students from 
outside their own discipline but who have a common interest in environmental and energy 
issues. 

Please join us for what promises to be a very interesting discussion and presentation.
 
Paul Armsworth, College of Arts and Sciences
Don Hodges, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Becky Jacobs, College of Law
Jacob LaRiviere, Haslam College of Business Administration and Baker Fellow
Charles Sims, Baker Faculty Fellow and Haslam College of Business Administration

Plus, these upcoming February events!  Free and open to the public!

Feb. 17, 12:45 - 1:45 pm Baker Cafe - Interning in DC and Nashville!  White House 
Intern, Julia Ross, US Congressional intern Jacob Clark and TN Legislator intern Savannah 
Dabney, will discuss their experiences and share tips on getting an internship.  Rotunda 
Reading Room

Feb. 22, 1:30 pm - Howard Baker Public Policy Challenge FINALS!  Listen to the final 5 
teams present their policy solutions to area issues.  Toyota Auditorium