Safa Mote

Currently at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD), Dr. Safa Mote is an Applied Mathematician and Systems Scientist (Physicist) who has worked on a wide range of challenging interdisciplinary problems. He has two bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics, two master’s degrees in Physics and Mathematics, and two PhD degrees in Applied Mathematics & Statistics / Public Policy and Physics from UMD. He designs mathematical models to propose and assess holistic decisions and policies that lead to sustainability in interconnected environmental, economic, climate, and health systems. He develops novel computational methods based on Dynamical Systems, Machine Learning, and Data Assimilation to analyze large, diverse datasets of these complex systems and create forecasts and projections.

Dr. Mote has published his papers in a broad range of prestigious journals, including Science, Nature Communications, Ecological Economics, National Science Review, Journal of Climate, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Earth System Dynamics, Climate Dynamics, and PLOS ONE. Several of his papers are among the most cited and most downloaded papers in their respective fields. Dr. Mote’s research has been covered by The Guardian, Reuters, Discover Magazine, NPR, BBC, LA Times, The Independent, New Scientist, IFL Science, and dozens of other newspapers. He is an avid science communicator who has delivered dozens of invited lectures at major international meetings, universities, and research institutes, including Stanford, University of California, Berkeley, University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Johns Hopkins University, University of Virginia (UVA), UMD, World Bank, and France’s CNRS.

Dr. Mote works with a cross-disciplinary team of distinguished natural and social scientists and engineers, including several members of the US National Academies. His collaborators include Eugenia Kalnay (Atmospheric Science, NAE), Yan Li (Forest Science), James Yorke (Mathematics), Jorge Rivas (Social Sciences and History), Matthias Ruth (Public Policy), Rita Colwell (Biology, NAS), Antonio Busalacchi (Ocean Science, NAE), Ghassem Asrar (Remote Sensing), Mark Cane (Earth Science, NAS), Takemasa Miyoshi (Data Assimilation), J. Shukla (Climate Science), Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm (Hydrology), Jelena Srebric (Engineering), Ning Zeng (Carbon Dynamics), Robert Cahalan (Space Physics), Klaus Hubacek (Economics, Geography), Roald Sagdeev (Physics, NAS), and many others. Please find below their Perspective paper, Modeling Sustainability (2016, NSR).