My work is focused on the goal of increasing water use efficiency of crop systems through development/improvement of user-friendly, scientifically robust crop simulation models and decision support tools to improve crop and soil management. My research includes 1) developing a better understanding of crop response to climate variability and change under limited irrigation, 2) optimizing management practices for a given crop, location, and irrigation system using crop models and weather/climate forecasts, 3) developing/improving crop models and decision support toolkits for improving crop production, 4) developing methods to link/couple climate models and crop models to improve stakeholder’s decision making, and 5) developing methods for downscaling Global and Regional Climate Model outputs. I work on a team with faculty specialists in physiology, irrigation engineering, soil science, weed science, breeding and genetics, plant pathology, entomology, remote sensing and GIS, meteorology, climatology and agricultural economics. I use an integrated systems approach combining field research with simulation modeling and validation to ensure widest possible extrapolation of results. I contribute to existing research initiatives on the Agricultural Modeling Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), Global Yield Gap Analysis (GYGA), climate change and climate variability, and global food security at regional, national and global scales. My appointment is 75% research, 15% teaching and 10% extension in Applied Climate Science.