David Tarboton
College of Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineering

Dr. David Tarboton is internationally known for his work on hydrologic information systems, hydrologic terrain analysis and hydrologic modeling. Through his leadership in the development of HydroShare, his work has transformed findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable data and modeling sharing in the water research community. His work on digital elevation model analysis embodied in the TauDEM software has transformed the use of digital elevation data for hydrologic modeling and flood inundation mapping. His contributions are used operationally in support of National Water Model forecasts and implemented in geographic information software used worldwide. His open educational resources, and the HydroLearn platform for open educational resource sharing that he co-developed are used around the world for the sharing and collaborative development and improvement of active-learning resources in hydrology and water resources engineering. His work on the sensitivity of the Great Salt Lake to hydrologic inputs informs decision making addressing critically low lake levels. He received the 2020 American Water Resources Association, David R Maidment Award for Exemplary Contributions to Water Resources Data and Information Systems. He was elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2018, an honor given to no more than one in 1000 of the AGU membership each year.