Michael Crimmins

Professor & Extension Specialist - Climate Science, Department of Environmental Science

Links

Dr. Crimmins is on the faculty of the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona and is a Climate Science Extension Specialist for Arizona Cooperative Extension. In this position he provides climate science support to resource managers across Arizona by assessing information needs, synthesizing and transferring relevant research results, and conducting applied research projects. His extension and research work supports resource management across multiple sectors including rangelands, forests/wildfire, and water resources as well as informing policy and decision makers. This work aims to support managers by increasing climate science literacy as well as developing strategies to adapt to a changing climate. He also serves as a drought monitoring expert on the Arizona Governor’s Drought Task Force and has worked with counties across Arizona to implement drought preparedness and impact monitoring plans.

Publications

Brischke, A., Crimmins, M. A., Grace, J., Hall, A., & McClaran, M. (2020). Monitoring drought in Arizona. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Bulletin.

Brischke, A., Crimmins, M. A., Grace, J., Hall, A., & McClaran, M. (2020). The U.S. Drought Monitor. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Bulletin.

Crimmins, T. M., & Crimmins, M. A.. (2019). Biologically‐Relevant Trends in Springtime Temperatures Across the United States. Geophysical Research Letters, 46(21), 12377–12387. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085251

Crimmins, M. A., & Crimmins, T. M. (2019). Does an Early Spring Indicate an Early Summer? Relationships Between Intraseasonal Growing Degree Day Thresholds. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 124(8), 2628–2641. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JG005297

Crimmins, M. A. (2018, April). Monitoring Precipitation on Rangelands: Tools, Strategies, and Best Practices.

EL-Vilaly, M. A. S., Didan, K., Marsh, S., Crimmins, M., & Munoz, A. B. (2018). Characterizing Drought Effects on Vegetation Productivity in the Four Corners Region of the US Southwest. Sustainability, 10(5), 1643. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051643

Weiss, J. L., Garfin, G., Crimmins, M., & Brown, P. (2018). El Nino 2018-2019? An Overview of What It Might Mean for Arizona.

Weiss, J., Crimmins, M. A., DuBois, D., & Garfin, G. (2018). El Niño 2018—2019? An Overview of What It Might Mean for New Mexico. University of Arizona.

Crimmins, M. A., McClaran, M., Brugger, J., Hall, A., Tolleson, D., & Brischke, A. (2017). Rain Gauges for Range Management: Precipitation Monitoring Best Practices Guide. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.

Crimmins, M. A., McClaran, M., Brugger, J., Hall, A., & Tolleson, D. (2017). Do-it-yourself construction guide: Rugged accumulation precipitation gauge for remote monitoring. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.

Elias, E., Schrader, T. S., Abatzoglou, J. T., James, D., Crimmins, M., Weiss, J. L., & Rango, A. (2017). County-level climate change information to support decision-making on working lands. Climatic Change, 148(3), 355–369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-017-2040-y

Crimmins, M. A., Ferguson, D. B., Meadow, A. M., & Weiss, J. L.. (2017). Discerning “Flavors” of Drought Using Climate Extremes Indices. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 56(4), 989-1001. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-16-0270.1

Ferguson, D. B., Crimmins, M. A., Masayesva, A., Meadow, A. M., Weiss, J. L., & Faulstich, H. (2017). Drought Monitoring to Support Planning for the Hopi Tribe: Final Report 2010-2016. Climate Assessment for the Southwest, University of Arizona.

Weiss, J., & Crimmins, M. A.. (2017). DroughtView: Satellite-based Drought Monitoring and Assessment. Arizona Cooperative Extension.

Crimmins, T. M., Crimmins, M. A., Gerst, K., Rosemartin, A., Weltzin, J., & Rossi, S. (2017). USA National Phenology Network’s volunteer-contributed observations yield predictive models of phenological transitions. PLOS ONE, 12(8), e0182919. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182919

El-Vilaly, M. A. S., Didan, K., Marsh, S. E., Van Leeuwen, W. J. D., Crimmins, M. A., & Munoz, A. B. (2017). Vegetation productivity responses to drought on tribal lands in the Four Corners region of the Southwest. Frontiers of Earth Science, 12(1), 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-017-0646-z

Weiss, J., & Crimmins, M. A.. (2016). Better coverage of Arizona’s weather and climate: Gridded datasets of daily surface meteorological variables: Vol. AZ1704. University of Arizona.

Weltzin, J., Crimmins, T. M., Gerst, K., Rosemartin, A., Marsh, S. E., Lee, R., Switzer, J., & Crimmins, M. A.. (2016). Daily Accumulated Growing Degree Day and Spring Index Maps. Information sheet.

Herrmann, S., Didan, K., Munoz, A. B., & Crimmins, M. A.. (2016). Divergent responses of vegetation cover in Southwestern U.S. ecosystems to dry and wet years at different elevations. Environmental Research Letters, 11(12), 124005. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/12/124005

Weiss, J., Crimmins, M. A., Garfin, G., & Brown, P. (2016). El Niño 2015-2016: Will It Affect the Wildland Fire Season in Arizona?.

Meadow, A. M., Guido, Z., Crimmins, M. A., & McLeod, J. (2016). From principles to action: Applying the National Research Council’s principles for effective decision support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s watch office. Climate Services, 1, 12-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2016.02.002

Brugger, J., Crimmins, M. A., & McClaran, M. (2016). Groups co-developing approaches to improve planning for drought on public lands, Part III.

Ferguson, D. B., Masayesva, A., Meadow, A. M., & Crimmins, M. A.. (2016). Rain Gauges to Range Conditions: Collaborative Development of a Drought Information System to Support Local Decision-Making. Weather, Climate, and Society, 8(4), 345-359. https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-15-0060.1

McReynolds, K., Crimmins, M. A., & Wright, A. (2016). Southeastern Arizona Range and Livestock Newsletter.

Crimmins, M. A. (2016). The El Niño-Southern Oscillation. 24, 9.

Projects

Name	Project type	Project Dates
Developing Integrated Heat Health Information for Long-term Resilience and Early Warning	Outreach	2018
Visualization and Analysis Tools for the North American Monsoon - Integrating Citizen Science Data and Observations	Research	2018
Evaluating Existing and Developing New Drought Indices Using Modeled Soil Moisture Time Series	Research	2017
Improved Understanding of Climate Variability and Change Relevant to Orchards and Vineyards in Arizona and New Mexico	Research	2017
Arizona Business Resilience Initiative - An Initiative To Support Arizona’s Business Community In Managing Climate Risk	Research	2015