Harry F. Lins

Harry F. Lins(born 1948) is a Scientist Emeritus (Hydrology) with the U.S. Geological Survey. During his years at USGS, his work spanned several Earth science disciplines, including coastal processes, surface water hydrology, and hydroclimatology.Although most of his career was spent conducting research, he managed the USGS Global Change Hydrology Program from 1989 to 1997, and served as Co-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Hydrology and Water Resources Working Group for the IPCC First Assessment Report.In 1999, he and USGS colleague David Wolock developed "WaterWatch", the Nation’s first website depicting maps and graphs of water resources conditions in near real-time.Lins currently serves as President of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Commission for Hydrology.

Since the early 1980s, Lins's research has focused principally on characterizing the surface water response to climate, with an emphasis on regional streamflow variability, long-term trends, and the statistical techniques appropriate for such analyses. Lins' most controversial research, which has not been fully embraced by the climate science community, suggests that the significance of climate trends may be greatly overstated because it does not consider the possibility that long-term persistence is a component of climatic variations.

Lins holds a B.S. in Geography from the University of Maryland (1971), an M.S. in Geography from the University of Delaware, (1978), and a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia (1993).

• "Comment on "Communicating Government Science," Eos, 87, 2 May 2006.
• "Natures style: naturally trendy," Geophysical Research Letters, 32, 2005.
• "Streamflow trends in the United States," Geophysical Research Letters, 26, 1999.
• "Regional streamflow regimes and hydroclimatology of the United States," Water Resources Research, 33, 1997.