Ramzi Touchan

My research is to integrate dendrochronology into natural and water resources management in the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Jordan), and North Africa (Morocco, Algeria and, Tunisia). I conducted the first large-scale systematic dendroclimatic sampling in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East and North Africa. My colleagues and I developed the first climate field reconstruction using Palmer drought Index (PDSI) for North Africa. This pioneering work, supported by the National Science Foundation, is critically important in an arid region where understanding and managing water resources essential for sustaining resources. This network will be used to study interannual to century-scale climate fluctuations in the region and their links to forcing factors and large-scale patterns of ocean and atmosphere variability. Appointments: 2012-Present Research Professor at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and Joint Professor at the School of Natural Resources and Environment and Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. 2004-2012 Associate Research Professor at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and Joint Research Professor at the School of Natural Resources and Environment and Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 1997-2004 Senior Research Specialist, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona. 1993-97 Research Specialist, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona. 1991-97 Postdoctoral Fellow, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona. 1987-91 Graduate Student Assistant, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona. 1983-84 Research Assistant, Department of Forestry, University of Aleppo, Syria. 1977-83 Technical Manager, Union of Syrian Agriculture, Aleppo, Syria.