Curriculum Vitae

CONTACT INFORMATION

Dr. Samuel Shen
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7720
USA

Tel: (619) 594-6280
Fax: (619) 594-6746

E-mail: sshen@sdsu.edu
Homepage: http://shen.sdsu.edu

EDUCATION

1987 Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
1985 M.A. in Applied Mathematics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
1982 B.Sc. in Engineering Mechanics, East China Engineering Inst., China

REGULAR ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

2014 ------ Distinguished Professor, San Diego State University
2006-2013 Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, San Diego State University
2005-2006 McCalla Professor, University of Alberta, Canada
1997-2005 Professor of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta
1993-1997 Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of Alberta, Canada
1991-1993 Assistant Professor of Mathematics, University of Alberta, Canada
1989-1991 Assistant Professor of Mathematics, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
1987-1989 Visiting Assistant Prof. of Mathematics, Texas A&M University, USA

ADMINISTRATIVE AND EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS

2006-2011 Chair, Mathematics and Statistics Department, San Diego State University
2003-2005 Vice President of Canadian Mathematical Society
2003-2005 Past-President of Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society
2001-2003 President of Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society
1999-2001 President-elect of Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society
2000-2000 Associate Chair for Graduate Studies and Research, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada
1999-2003 Associate Director of Inst. of Geophysical Research, Univ. of Alberta
1998-1999 Member-at-Large, Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society
1994-1996 Member-at-Large, Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society

VISITING AND ADJUNCT ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT

2012-, Visiting Research Mathematician, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD
2007-2012 Adjunct Professor of Math and Stats Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada
2002-, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Science, University of Maryland, USA
1999 Oct-2002 Aug US NRC Senior Fellow at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
1999 (July-Sept) NOAA Visiting Scientist, US National Climatic Data Center
1996 (Mar-Sept) UCAR Scientific Visitor, US Climate Prediction Center
1995 (May-Oct) University Research Fellow, University of Tokyo, Japan

HONORS, AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

2024: Summer Faculty Award at Distinguished Level, The Office of Naval Research
2018: Plenary speaker at the opening session of the 2018 ABET Symposium: University curriculum modernization based on computer languages and big data for training the future workforce
2015: The President’s Leadership Award, San Diego State University
2014: Threw the ceremonial first pitch at the San Diego Padres vs. San Francisco Giants baseball game at San Diego Petco Park Field with more than 40,000 seats on September 20, 2014.
2014: Albert W. Johnson University Research Lecturer, San Diego State University.
2012: Arthur Beaumont Distinguished Service Award, Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society.
2009: Honorary Guest of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to the 60th Anniversary Celebration of the People’s Republic of China. The guest group had 44 people and included Fields Medalist Shing-Tung Yau of Harvard and Nobel Laureate Samuel Ting of MIT. The group was met by Chinese President Hu Jintao.
2005: Member of Advisory Board of the China Meteorological Administration.
2005: McCalla Professor of the University of Alberta.
2004: Honorary Professor of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
2004: Conceptual Designer of the Canadian National Agroclimatic Information System (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada). The system is one-seventh of the Canadian National Land and Water Information Service.
2004: Member of the Advisory Group of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. This group of 10 members consists of outstanding overseas Chinese scientists from top academic institutions such as MIT and UC-Berkeley. On March 31, 2004, CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) radio aired a 12-minute exclusive interview on me for being the only Canadian appointed to the group. The interview can be downloaded from www.ualberta.ca/~shen/media-eng.html. I met Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao multiple times, and had work meetings with different ministers.
2003: Fifteen-minute exclusive interview by the China Central TV on December 6, 2003, about my research and my ideas on the future development of China’s education and research. The interview can be downloaded from www.ualberta.ca/~shen/media-eng.html
2002: NASA Goddard Space Fight Center’s Top Story Press Release on January 15, 2002 about a “New Method Greatly Improves U.S. Seasonal Forecasts.” The release described the significance of the new method developed by KM Lau, KM Kim and myself. The method had raised the bar for predicting seasonal precipitation by 10 to 20 percent for all seasons in the United States. http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020115forecast.html
2001: Well-known Overseas Chinese Scholar. This is an honor given by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to overseas Chinese scholars from mainland China. Altogether 9 professors were honored, among whom five are mathematicians (J. Li of Stanford, F. Lin of NYU, S. Shen of Alberta, G. Tian of MIT, and S. Zhang of Columbia).
2001: Advisory Panelist of the Overseas Chinese Scholars for Innovation Projects. Altogether 11 outstanding Chinese scientists from around the world were selected for this panel. The panel visited China in September 2001 and was received by Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqin and Chinese Academy of Sciences President Lu Yongqiang. The panel’s activities were well covered by more than 20 major Chinese media outlets, including China Central TV.
2001: Overseas Assessor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The award is given to outstanding senior overseas Chinese scientists to evaluate research programs of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
1999: US National Research Council Senior Fellowship Award. This award is advertised in American Mathematical Society Notices and is similar to the Alfred P. Sloan award, but given to more senior people.
1996: NOAA University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Scientific Visitor Fellowship Award. This award is given to outstanding meteorologists and oceanographers at both junior and senior levels. It is similar to the senior Humboldt Research Fellowship, but is more selective.
1995: University of Tokyo Research Fellowship Award. This award is given to outstanding researchers to conduct independent research at the University of Tokyo and is similar to the senior Humboldt Research Fellowship.

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS

Sampling error estimate for climate data, uncertainty quantification for climate change assessment, methods for detecting climate changes, software development for big climate data visualization and delivery, climate observation network designs, stochastic climate models, seasonal forecasting of precipitation, analysis of remote sensing data, agroclimatic data analysis, spatial statistics applications, data analysis methods for nonlinear and non-stationary processes, fluid dynamics, and nonlinear waves.

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

Climate data analysis, visualization and delivery (in collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography/ UCSD, University of Maryland, UCLA, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, and NOAA National Climatic Data Center): Software development for big climate data visualization and delivery, uncertainty quantification of global precipitation, advanced statistical methods for estimating cloud parameters, multivariate regression for forecasting, Bayesian OA algorithms, climate models, climate data compression, nonlinear and non-stationary data analysis, detection of climate changes, reconstruction of climate data, design of optimal observation systems, changes of ocean heat contents, agroclimatic data analysis, and ground validation for satellite observations.
Fluid dynamics and forced nonlinear waves: Mathematical modeling of water waves, asymptotic analysis, and numerical simulations.

RESEARCH FUNDING (2001-present)

National Science Foundation: AI2ES expansion on 4D space-time organization of geophysical processes, visualization tools, and workforce development, 2023-2027. The lead PI is Shen and two co-PIs are Efi Foufoula-Georgiou of the University of California-Irvine and Amy McGovern of the University of Oklahoma.
University of California Climate Action: Rural heat islands: Mapping and mitigating farmworker exposure to heat stress, 2023-2025. Shen is a co-PI. The lead PI is Trent Biggs.
NOAA Education Partnership Program: NOAA Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies II (CESSRST-II), 2022-2027. The lead PI is Fred Moshary of City College of New York. The SDSU site PI is Walter Oechel. Shen is SDSU site Co-I.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology, Center for Academic Partnerships (CAP) Program: Travel grant for lab collaborations. 2020-2023. The PI is Sam Shen. The JPL collaborator is Tony Y. Song.
NOAA Education Partnership Program: NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences for 13 universities including SDSU, 2016-2021. The lead PI is Vernon Morris of Howard University. The SDSU site PI is Sam Shen.
NOAA Education Partnership Program: NOAA Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies, 2016-2021. The lead PI is Reza Khanbilvardi of City College of New York. The SDSU site PI is Walter Oechel. Shen is SDSU site Co-PI.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information: Simplified and optimal analysis of NOAA global temperature data: Data validation, new insights, climate dynamics and uncertainty quantification, 2016-2017. Sam Shen is the sole PI.
National Science Foundation: Statistical Methods for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (STATMOS) postdoctoral researcher, 2016-2017 (shared with Peter Gerstoft, SIO/UCSD, with a sub-contract from the STATMOS Co-Director Peter Guttorp, University of Washington). The lead PI is Shen.
National Science Foundation: EaSM-3: Collaborative Research: Surface-induced forcing and decadal variability and change of the East Asian climate, surface hydrology and agriculture – A modeling and data approach, 2014-2018 (shared with Yongkang Xue, UCLA and William J. Patton, Colorado State University. The lead PI is Xue).
National Science Foundation: Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Supplement: Analysis and outreach in the exploration of rainfall variations and uncertainties related to vernal pools of the Carmel Mountain Preserve, San Diego, 2012-2014.
National Science Foundation:Evaluating the roles of factors critical to MJO simulations using the NCARCAM3 with deterministic and stochastic convection parameterization closures, 2011-2015 (shared with Guang Zhang, UCSD. The lead PI is Zhang).
National Science Foundation: Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Supplement: Exploring rainfall variations and uncertainties on vernal pools of Carmel Mountain Reserve, San Diego, 2011-2012.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Jet Propulsion Lab: Optimal assessment of the deep ocean warming based on sparse in-situ data, 2011-2012.
California State University/Water Resource Policy Initiative: Uncertainty quantification for climate model projections: applications to California water resource assessment, funds for buying out of one class of teaching for Shen and a class for Cordero, 2011-2012 (shared with Eugene Cordero, SJSU. The lead PI is Cordero).
National Science Foundation: Changes in characteristics of global precipitation since 1900 from observations, analyses, and models: mechanisms and uncertainties, 2010-2014 (shared with Phil Arkin, University of Maryland. The lead PI is Shen).
Department of Energy: Advanced statistical methods for cloud parameterization, 2009-2012 (shared with Richard Somerville, UCSD. The lead PI is Somerville).
NOAA Office of Global Change Program/National Climatic Data Center: USHCN climate data error assessment, 2008-2013.
Alberta Environment: Error assessment and network design for Alberta precipitation pollutant measurement, 2008-2009.
Alberta Innovation and Sciences: Development of second generation of hybrid method, 2006-2008.
NASA Lab for Atmospheres: Changes of extreme climate and climate modeling, 2005.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: Climate informatics, 2004-2009.
Canada Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems: Climate signal analysis, 2003-2004.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: Conceptual design and daily data analysis for the Canadian National Land and Water Information Service, 2004-2005.
Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development: Alberta drought monitoring and risk management, 2003-2005
Canadian Foundation for Innovation Equipment, 2002-2005 (shared with Michael Li and Bin Han. Li was the lead PI.)
NOAA Office of Global Change Program: Error analysis, design and creation of optimal observational network for monthly temperature and precipitation, 2002-2005.
NOAA Office of Global Change Program: Detecting climate change with respect to both mean and variance, 2002-2005.
Chinese Academy of Sciences: Overseas Well-known Scholars Program, 2002-2005.
Chinese Academy of Sciences: Overseas Assessors Program, 2001-2004.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: Statistical climatology, 2000-2003.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Equipment, 1998-2001.
Alberta iCORE: Seed fund, 2001.
US NOAA/NCDC: Seed fund, 2001.
US National Research Council: Optimal algorithms for US seasonal prediction, 1999-2002.
Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development: Climate data interpolation, drought indices and soil quality models, 1998-2002.
Atmospheric Environment Services, Canada: Optimal detection of climate changes, 1998-2001.

LECTURES

Invited to lecture on over 200 occasions in more than 10 countries. The lecture topics include climate change, spatial statistics, nonlinear waves, reform of mathematics education, and computer software development.
Partial list of invited conference lectures: 2018 ABET Symposium opening plenary speech; 2017 NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information short course instructor; International Workshop on Tibetan Plateau Environment, Xining, China, 2016; Two invited oral presentations at AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, 2015; ICIAM climate math symposium, Beijing, 2015; Workshop on basic knowledge for computational mathematics, Beijing, 2014; AMS special session speaker at Joint Mathematics Meeting, San Diego, January 2013; Plenary lecture at CLIVAR/WCRP (World Climate Research Programme) Workshop at Qingdao, China, 2012; Climate Change and Ocean Carbon - A Joint International Workshop at Xiamen, 2011; the International Conference of Agriculture and Food Security Risk at Beijing, 2010; Anhui Science and Innovation Convention at Hefei, 2009; invited speaker at the special session on climate mathematics at the American Mathematical Society Annual Meeting at San Diego, 2008; main speaker at the Agriculture Agri-Food Canada Climate Data Interpolation Workshop at Regina, 2006; invited speaker at the North America Drought Monitoring workshop at Edmonton, 2004; plenary lecturer at the 2000 CSIAM (Chinese Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics) congress at Hangzhou; mini-symposium speaker on the EMD method at the 2005 SIAM Annual Meeting at Montreal; special session speaker on data reconstruction at the 1998 American Statistical Society Annual Meeting at Dallas; special session speaker on detection of climate change and parameter estimation at the 1997 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting at San Francisco; special session speaker on nonlinear wave equations at the 1997 American Mathematical Society Annual Meeting; plenary lecture at the 1995 Canadian Applied Mathematics Society Annual Meeting; plenary lecturer at International Conference on Differential Equations and Control Theory at Wuhan, 1994; invited speaker at the special session on boundary behavior in PDE at the 1991 American Mathematical Society Annual Meeting at Atlanta; and invited speaker at the 3rd International Conference on Precipitation Modeling at College Station, 1991.
Partial list of colloquium and seminar talks: NCAR Institute for Mathematics Applied to Geosciences, Colorado State University, UCLA Department of Geography, Kiwanis Club San Diego Downtown, Xiamen University’s College of Environmental Science and Ecology, NOAA Southwest Fishery Science Center, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, CAS Institute for Tibetan Plateau Research, University of California San Diego (Math Department), University of California-Riverside, University of California-Irvine, CAS Ocean Research Institute, The First Institute of Ocean of China, Tsinghua University, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Scripps Institution of Oceanography/UCSD, University of Alberta, University of Waterloo, University of Regina, San Diego State University, Texas A&M University, National Ocean Service of NOAA, Harvard University, Columbia University, National Climatic Data Center of NOAA, Climate Prediction Center of NOAA, U.K. Meteorological Office, Institute of Atmospheric Physics (China), Illinois Institute of Technology, Iowa State University, University of Hawaii, University of Science and Technology of Hong Kong, University of Maryland, National Taiwan University, University of Technology of Malaysia, Beijing University, Fudan University, University of Tokyo, Japan Marine Sci. & Tech. Center, Canadian Climate Center, University of Toronto, University of Sci. and Tech. of China, and Geological Survey of Canada.

GRADUATE TEACHING AND SUPERVISION

Created and taught a variety of graduate courses including “Climate Mathematics”, “Mathematical Modeling”, “Nonlinear Waves”, “Partial Differential Equations”, “Methods for Applied Mathematics”, “Mathematics for Scientific Data Analysis”, “Climate Sampling Errors”, “Estimation Theory of Signal Analysis”, and “Detection Theory of Signal Analysis”.
Wrote two graduate textbooks: A Course on Nonlinear Waves, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1993, 327pp, ISBN 0-7923-2292-4, and Climate Mathematics: Theory and Applications, Cambridge University Press, 2019, 426pp.
Wrote a set of lecture notes for a graduate short course at the University of Tokyo: Climate Sampling Errors, 1995.
Supervised more than 70 graduate students, research associates/postdoctoral fellows, and visiting scholars. Served as the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies and Research of the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, in 2000. Served on various graduate committees at the levels of department, college and university. Directed 12 PhD dissertations and more than 35 MS theses. Served on more than 15 PhD dissertation committees and 25 MS thesis committees as a member.

SERVICES

Member of the Steering Committee of the University of California-California State University (UC-CSU) Sustainability Education, 2018-.
Editor in Chief of Advances of Data Science and Adaptive Analysis (ADSAA), 2016-2021, World Scientific.
SDSU’s primary representative to University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) since 2016.
Leader of the NSF STATMOS’ group of “Non-stationary Space-Time Processes” (an NSF program of Statistical Methods for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences: 2012-2017).
President of San Diego Chinese American Association, 2014-2016.
Associate editor of Advances in Adaptive Data Analysis, 2008-2015.
Associate editor of Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, 2008-2011.
Associate Editor of the Canadian Mathematical Society Books Series, 2005-2007.
Member of Editorial Committee of Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2004-2010.
Member of the Grant Review Panel for the US National Science Foundation, 2010.
Member of the Grant Review Committee for Environment Canada, 2000.
Member of the Planning Committee for Scientific Computing in the Fields Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Toronto, Canada, 2001-2002.
Canadian Representative to the International Congress of Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 1999-2005.
Lead the California movement of banning public declaration of “I’m not good at math” by politicians and public figures (2008-present).
Coordinator of Industrial Internship Program (for Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, University of Alberta).
Ten-year service for the Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society (1994-1996, 1998-2005).
Refereed over 200 research-grant proposals, papers for scientific journals and books.
Organized conferences for American Geophysical Union’s Annual Meeting, American Mathematical Society’s Annual Meeting, Canadian Mathematical Society’s Annual Meeting, Canadian Applied Mathematics Society’s Annual Meeting, US Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Annual Meeting, and Canadian Symposium on Fluid Dynamics.
Served in various committees within the department, faculty/college, and university, as well as industries and governmental bodies.
Worked with History Channel to promote mathematics activities for children. A program with Human Calculator Scott Flansburg on SDSU campus was aired in 2010.

PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS

2012-2016 Created and taught the annual two-week course of “Global Climate Change and Ecological Vulnerability” as an SDSU Study Abroad program at Xiamen University, China, which blends students from USA, mainland China, and Taiwan to discuss climate change science, engineering and policy.
2004-2008 Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: Provide the conceptual design, metadata requirements, and expertise in data analysis to the ministry's development of the Canadian Digital Agriculture System.
2004-2007 Ministry of Science and Technology of China: Provide advice on the future Chinese science and educational policies.
1998-2001 Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, World Meteorological Organization: Analyze the assessments of global warming from 1861 and estimate the errors in the optimal assessment.
1998-2003 Ministry of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development: Provide the data process expertise to the ministry's drought monitoring system, agroclimate atlas, and soil quality modeling.

SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS

American Statistical Association (Life Member)
Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society (Lifetime Member)
Canadian Mathematical Society (Lifetime Member)
American Mathematical Society (Lifetime Member)
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (Lifetime Member)
Chinese-American Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (Lifetime Member)
American Geophysical Union
American Meteorological Society

HOBBIES

Cooking and walking.

To request a full detailed CV, please email to sshen@sdsu.edu .