DeWitt joined NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) in 2012 as the lead modeler within the Science Plans Branch of the Office of Science and Technology. During his tenure at NWS, he served a detail as the acting deputy director for NCEP’s Environmental Modeling Center, and as a project manager for the Sandy Supplemental projects, which will accelerate development of NOAA’s foundational numerical guidance for weather prediction.  David has provided leadership on several NWS and NOAA cross-line office activities targeted toward improving NOAA’s products and services. 

Prior to coming to NOAA, DeWitt worked as a research scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) at Columbia University from 1999-2012.  While at IRI, David led a team of scientists in the development of seasonal climate forecasts and prototype decision supports systems for the application of climate information in the fields of agriculture, health, and water resources.  

From 1994-1999, DeWitt worked at the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies developing coupled atmosphere-ocean models for seasonal forecasts and conducting research to better understand short-term climate variability.

DeWitt received his Bachelor of Arts (1989) degree in meteorology from Kean University, and his Masters (1992), and Ph.D.  (1994) degrees in meteorology from the University of Maryland, College Park.  He has published over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles, and is a leading expert on short-term climate forecasting and diagnostics, and coupled model development.  He served as an executive editor of Climate Dynamics, and as a member of the World Climate Research Program Working Group on Seasonal to Interannual Prediction.

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