J. David Neelin is a professor and chair of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, and member of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has published over 100 scientific papers, including contributions to understanding and predictability of the El Nino Southern oscillation phenomenon, decadal variability, vegetation interaction with climate variability, how rainfall interacts with natural climate variability and anthropogenic change and methods of improving representation of rainfall processes in climate models. He has taught courses in climate science from introductory undergraduate to advanced graduate level. He is a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Royal Meteorological Society and the American Meteorological Society, and the recipient of a Presidential Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation Special Creativity Award, and the American Meteorological Society Meisinger Award.