Lahouari Bounoua was born in Oran, Algeria. He completed his education at Florida State University with a Master degree in 1990 and a PhD in 1992, specialty “atmospheric sciences”. Dr. Bounoua joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in 1993 with an affiliation as a research associate with the University Space Research Association. In 1995 he was affiliated as an assistant professor with the University of Maryland College Park, and then, as an associate professor in 2002. to 2005 Dr. Bounoua joined NASA as a civil servant where he is now a Senior Research Scientist and the Associate Chief for the Biospheric Sciences Laboratory. Dr. Bounoua's studies revolve around terrestrial ecosystems and their interactions with the atmosphere using multi-scale remote sensing, modeling, and advanced analytical techniques. Dr. Bounoua leads a group focusing on land surface processes modeling, including land cover and land use change, climate impacts and feedbacks including health, water and food security and sustainable development. Another part of the research studies the impact of anthropogenic activities such as emission of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the quantification of the role of vegetation in climate regulation. Recently Dr. Bounoua conducted high impact work linking climate to incidence of the zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (L. major) in the North African and developed a line of research in modeling vector borne diseases. Dr. Bounoua has more than 50 peer reviewed articles in high impact journals, several books and book chapters and has delivered several scientific seminars at national and international conferences. Dr. Bounoua was awarded the “Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Award for Outstanding Education and Outreach” in 2009 and “University Space Research Association Excellence in Research” in 1996.