External Participants
Africa
| Name | Institution | Key words | Short description |
|
Rebecca Garland |
University of Pretoria, South Africa | air quality, climate change, and science-policy linkages | https://www.up.ac.za/geography-geoinformatics-and-meteorology/article/3043312/rebecca-garland |
| Babatunde J. Abiodun | University of Cape Town, South Africa | climate model developments and applications | My research interests lies in climate model development and application for regional climate studies with a focus on Africa. This includes studying climate variability and change, weather and climate extremes, land-atmosphere interaction, and solar radiation management. https://science.uct.ac.za/department-egs/staff-academic-staff/assoc-prof-babatunde-j-abiodun |
| Christopher Lennard | University of Cape Town, South Africa | Climate modelling; Climate information; Renewable energy; Cloud computing | I am interested in the impacts of regional climate variability and change in Africa. Working on projects including modelling for wind energy resource assessment, co-production of scale-relevant, actionable climate information, cloud computing, climate intervention and disease modelling. https://www.csag.uct.ac.za/author/clennard/ |
| Isaac Akinwumi | Covenant University, Nigeria | Environment, Education, training and outreach | 1. Research on Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Geoenvironment, Air quality, Flooding, Coastal erosion and Waste management; and 2. Education, training and Outreach. https://staff.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/members/akinwumi-isaac-ibukun/ |
| Oye Ideki | Nigeria Maritime University | Climatology, extreme climate events, climate change, prediction, modelling , hydrology, West Africa | |
| Kassahun Ture | Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia | Air Pollution, Climate Change Adaptation and mitigation | http://www.aau.edu.et/cns/center-for-environmental-science/kassahun-ture/ |
| Tibebu Assefa | C40 | Air Quality and Health | https://www.c40.org/ |
| Margaret Gitau | University of Nairobi, Kenya | PM2.5 concentration, toxic heavy metals analysis, source apportionment, SDGs | I am analysing exposure levels to PM2.5 affecting the people operating within the city of Nairobi. The instruments I am using are portable cyclone samplers, so generally I am doing personal exposure levels. Source apportionment is also part of my objectives. |
| Jmv Niyitegeka | MeteoRwanda, Rwanda | weather, climate services | senior Meteorologist. Experience in weather, climate services their application in agriculture, environmental management, energy, health, water and other fields. |
| Prosper Ayabagabo | MeteoRwanda, Rwanda | WRF, radar and satellite, weather/climate services, and application | Numerical weather prediction, radar data interpretation and nowcasting, forecast of weather and climate extremes |
| Mthetho Sovara | Centre for High-Performance Computing, South Africa | HPC, ocean-atmosphere system, ML, outreach | investigating the dynamic shifts within the ocean-atmosphere system, spanning historical, current, and future conditions. Applying ML for enhancing numerical weather prediction and addressing climate change challenges. involved in multiple high-performance computing (HPC) initiatives aimed at supporting postgraduate students from universities in Southern Africa. |
| Robert Maisha | South African Weather Service | numerical weather prediction, Data Assimilation | My interest is numerical weather prediction and Data Assimilation and Model Development. I have experience in WRF and also less experience in WRFDA. I also apply the Unified Model and its DA component in my line of work. For research and model development we run the Australian CCAM model in NWP, Climate Projections and Urban Climate Modelling. |
| Alexandre Fumo | Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), Mozambique | climate change adaptation | biologist that works in practical fields of conservation and landscape approaches to land management, where cultural, political, economic, among many other non-biophysical factors influence decision making. |
| Elizabeth Majani Sunguti | KU Leuven and VUB in Belgium/ JOOUST in Kenya | Regional climate modelling, convective permitting climate modelling, climate extremes | Interested in applying the regional climate model- COSMO-CLM in evaluating climate extremes in the Lake Victoria Basin, Africa. |
| Roelof Burger | Unit of Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, South Africa | Climate change, air quality, earth observation | I am interested in how humans impact atmospheric processes. I use observations (like Weather Radar), and some modelling to do this. I hope to contribute to improving climate predictions and to informed environmental strategies. |
| Sarah Roffe | Agricultural Research Council, South Africa | Regional Climate Modelling, Climate change and variability, Extreme weather events, Agriculture, Climate Services | My work is focused over southern Africa considering regional climate change and variability in an agricultural context, and I use the WRF model for many applications on this topic. |
| Mukovhe Singo | Agricultural Research Council, South Africa | Regional Climate Modelling, Climate change and variability, Extreme weather events, Wildfires | I study regional climate change and variability over southern Africa, and I use the WRF model for many applications on this topic. |
| Dr. James Mwitari |
Director-KEMRI Air Pollution Centre of Excellence, Kenya |
Public health; Epidemiology; Air pollution; Energy use; Climate and health; Africa CDC Expert Policymaking |
Dr. James Mwitari is a distinguished public health practitioner with over 30 years of experience. He serves as Co-Director and Senior Research Fellow at KEMRI – CLEAN-Air (Africa) and leads the KEMRI-University of Liverpool Air Pollution Centre of Excellence. Holding a PhD in Epidemiology and an MSc in Communicable Disease Epidemiology, Dr. Mwitari has held significant roles, including Deputy Director of Public Health at Kenya's Ministry of Health and Dean at AMREF International University. He currently leads research on air pollution and energy, heads the MOH's national secretariat for Air Quality, Energy, and Health Technical Working Group, and is an Africa CDC expert on climate change and health strategy. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7464-1677 |
| Gohole Akaranga |
Manager-KEMRI Air Pollution Centre of Excellence, Kenya |
Public Health; Environmental Health; Air pollution; Climate and health; Household energy security; Monitoring & Evaluation Policymaking |
Gohole Akaranga Arthur is a distinguished researcher and advocate for environmental health and sustainable energy. He serves as a Research Coordinator and Scientist at KEMRI and manager of the Air Pollution Centre of Excellence. Gohole holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental health and a Master of Public Health (Monitoring & Evaluation). His experience includes specialized training from Clean Air (Africa), Berkeley Air Monitoring Group, MTL, Columbia University, AMREF International University, and the Ministry of Health. He is also a key member of the National Air Quality Technical Committee (KEBS/TC 043) and MOH's national secretariat for Air Quality, Energy, and Health Technical Working Group. His research focuses on developing and monitoring databases tracking environmental health, climate change, and sustainable energy in resource-poor households. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5455-7117 |
| Joan Kimathi |
Lab Manager- KEMRI Air Pollution Centre of Excellence, Kenya |
Air quality laboratory; Equipment calibration; Quality assurance; Air quality analysis Air pollution; Lab Management |
Joan Kimathi is the Air Quality Laboratory Manager at the KEMRI Air Pollution Centre of Excellence. A dedicated Medical Laboratory Science and Technology professional with specialized training in advanced filter handling and processing techniques at Columbia University in New York, USA, she specializes in air pollution research and indoor air quality. Joan manages advanced laboratory operations, including gravimetric filter precision weighing and air quality data analysis. With expertise in field equipment calibration, quality assurance, and health-focused air pollution studies, Joan plays a pivotal role in advancing research and training experts in human exposure to air pollution. |
| Betty Koech | Field Coordinator/Deput y Lab Manager- KEMRI Air Pollution Centre of Excellence, Kenya |
Medical microbiology; Air Pollution; Academia Community engagement; Fieldwork coordination; Air quality analysis Lab management |
Betty Koech is a dedicated research scientist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) with expertise in medical microbiology. She holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Moi University and an M.Sc. in Medical Microbiology from The University of Nairobi. Betty is committed to addressing the global health concern of Household Air Pollution (HAP) through extensive research and community engagement. Her expertise spans air pollution research, molecular biology, immunology, virology, and bacteriology. With several years of experience in academia, lab management, and fieldwork coordination, Betty's previous research focused on the sero-prevalence of Dengue Fever Virus in the adult Kenyan population. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/betty-koech-264684123/ |
Europe
| Name | Institution | Key words | Short description |
| Marleen Dekker | Leiden University, Netherlands | Inclusive development; Socio-economic inequalities; Interdisciplinary academic collaboration across geographies | https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/marleen-dekker#tab-1 |
| Pepijn Veefkind | KNMI, Netherlands | satellite | https://www.knmi.nl/over-het-knmi/onze-mensen/pepijn-veefkind |
| Henk Eskes | KNMI, Netherlands | satellite | https://www.henkeskes.nl/ |
| Deborah Stein | KNMI, Netherlands | satellite | https://www.knmi.nl/over-het-knmi/onze-mensen/deborah-c-stein-zweers |
| Camille Mouchel-Vallon | Laboratoire d'Aérologie, CNRS, France | air quality, modeling, organic chemistry, rain composition | Combining multiscale modeling, INDAAF network wet deposition measurements and air quality measurements to improve our understanding of rain composition and its impacts on natural and cultivated ecosystems. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Camille-Mouchel-Vallon |
| Zhonghua Zheng | The University of Manchester, United Kingdom | aerosols; air quality; climate; environment; data science; computing |
My work focuses on developing process-based and data-driven models to understanding atmospheric aerosols, air quality, and climate change. https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/zhonghua.zheng |
| Francis Pope | University of Birmingham | Air pollution, climate change, sustainable cities | Francis runs the ‘A Systems Approach to Air Pollution (ASAP)’ projects, which has worked in East Africa and West Africa, in addition to other global cities. The ASAP project is an umbrella project that aims to enhance local decision-making abilities to improve urban air quality, reduce the effects of air pollution upon human health, and allow for sustainable development to proceed without further deterioration in air quality. https://www.francispope.com/projects-1 |
| Agostino Niyonkuru Meroni | University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy | heavy rainfall, high resolution atmospheric models, remote sensing | I'm interested in extreme precipitation events and their link with the surface. I've run sensitivity tests with the WRF model to evaluate the dependence of heavy rainfalls on the PBL and the microphysical schemes. |
| Fabien Desbiolles | University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy | high resolution atmospheric and ocean models, coupled simulations, clouds and rainfall | I am interested in the lower-atmosphere response to fine-scale ocean structures, notably clouds and rainfall responses both locally and remotely. |
| Nicole van Lipzig | KU leuven, Belgium | regional climate modelling, convection-permitting climate modelling, extreme events | CORDEX flagship pilot study ELVIC - Climate Extremes in the Lake Viktoria Basin. Interested in co-developing, evaluating, and applying the regional climate model COSMO-CLM across diverse global regions including Africa. |
| Nick van de Giesen | Delft University of Technology, Netherlands | In situ observations, remote sensing | Over thirty years of field experience in different African countries in the field of water, weather, and climate. Several large innovation projects where services are built to provide actionable information in the fields of flood early warning systems, agricultural insurance, and reservoir management |
| Frank Annor | Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO) | Weather and hydro station, innovation | TAHMO runs a network of 600+ weather stations in 20 African countries in close cooperation with national government agencies. About 25 engineers keep the network running on the ground while an advance IT system allows data distribution through portal and API. www.tahmo.org |
| Eloise Marais | University College London, UK | Atmospheric Chemistry, air quality | influence of humans on air quality, atmospheric chemistry, ecosystems and human health, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/geography/eloise-marais |
| Luis Durán Montejano | Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain | weather, climate | weather and climate research from wave activity to ENSO and other tropical variability at various spatial scales. have collaborations with African colleagues from Senegal for many years |
| María Belén Rodríguez de Fonseca | Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain | weather, climate | weather and climate research from wave activity to ENSO and other tropical variability at various spatial scales. have collaborations with African colleagues from Senegal for many years |
| Deborah Stein Zweers | KNMI, Netherlands | ||
| Agnieszka Kazimierczuk | Leiden University, Netherlands | Inclusive development; just low-carbon transition; interdisciplinarity; evidence-based policy-making | Her research interests and expertise are on the use of satellite air quality data to inform climate policies in Africa, just low-carbon transition in Africa, (international) private sector development in Africa and decent youth employment. She has an ample experience in working on interdisciplinary (research) projects, as well as in knowledge brokering between academia and policy. |
| Mohamed Hamitouche | University School for Advanced Studies (IUSS) Pavia, Italy | water availability, scarcity, and management strategies | I am passionate about studying hydrological extremes such as floods and droughts. My interests also extend to agricultural-related topics. |
North America
| Name | Labs | Key words | Short description |
| Christine Wiedinmyer | CIRES | fire; emissions; air quality | https://cires.colorado.edu/administration/christine-wiedinmyer |
| Charles Ichoku | UMBC | climate; weather | https://cahss.umbc.edu/news/post/130589/ |
| Ave Arellano | University of Arizona | data assimilation, air quality and aerosols, satellite remote sensing | interested in understanding drivers of atmospheric pollution and their interactions in Africa using observational and modeling datasets (IGAC/AMIGO, UArizona-UM6P). https://arellano.faculty.arizona.edu/ |
| Brad Pierce | WISC | https://www.ssec.wisc.edu/staff/brad-pierce/ | |
| Solomon Bililign | NCAT | aerosols; air quality | professor in the Physics Department at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCA&T). His current research is focused on laboratory studies of optical and physiochemical properties of aerosols derived from African biomass fuels and field studies to collect filter samples of ambient pollutants for chemical analysis and measurement of BC and PM2.5 to understand and their impact on climate and health in Africa. https://www.ncat.edu/employee-bio.php?directoryID=1021253996 |
| Priyanka deSouza | University of Colorado Denver | air quality; surface-measurements; satellite remote sensing; health effects | My interests involve using low-cost sensors and satellite data to fill in air quality data gaps. I am also interested in better characterizing the health impacts of air pollution on the African continent. https://architectureandplanning.ucdenver.edu/our-people/phdfaculty/deSouza-Priyanka-EXTQTN1F7 |
| Daile Zhang | University of North Dakota | Lightning | evaluating and assessing lightning data from different lightning locating systems, including both ground-based and satellite-based networks. She serves on the Board of Directors of the African Centres for Lightning and Electromagnetics Network. https://essic.umd.edu/joom2/index.php/faculty-and-staff?layout=user&user_id=1175 |
| Mary Ann Cooper | University of Cincinnati | lightning injuries and lightning injury prevention | helped design training and accreditation standards in emergency medicine and served on the governing boards of several national EM organizations; Managing Director of the African Centres for Lightning and Electromagnetics Network. https://ACLENet.org |
| Ronald Holle | ACLENet | Lightning; education | Volunteer with African Centres for Lightning and Electromagnetics Network (ACLENet), mainly in Uganda, for education about the lightning threat and advocating for protecting buildings from lightning, especially schools. https://aclenet.org/ |
| Yan Jiang | UCSD | climate variability, water cycle, wildfire, remote sensing, food security | (1) Research on rainfall seasonality over the Congo rainforest; (2) Research on wildfire variations in Central Africa; (3) Research on water sources for global and regional food production under climate and land use changes. https://yjiangc.github.io/ |
| Xinyue Wang | CU Boulder | stratosphere | Interested in (1) Long-range transport of trace gases to or out of Africa; (2) Understanding the role of stratosphere in long-range transport predictability. |
| Luke Parsons | The Nature Conservancy | paleoclimate; climate dynamics; drought | climate change impacts on heat exposure and human health and well-being, what various future emissions pathways mean for air pollution exposure and health, tropical deforestation impacts on heat exposure, and wildfire smoke modeling |
| Bok Haeng Baek | George Mason University | Air quality and emissions modeling; modeling applications to support environmental policy | https://science.gmu.edu/directory/bh-baek |
| Jason Surratt | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Atmospheric chemistry, formation of SOA | https://sph.unc.edu/adv_profile/jason-d-surratt-phd/ |
| Rong Fu | UCLA | Water, atmosphere, vegetation, and extremes | https://dept.atmos.ucla.edu/rongfu |
| Siyu Zhao | UCLA | Atmospheric dynamics, weather extremes, seasonal forecast, and climate variability | My work focuses on understanding the physical and dynamic mechanisms of the tropical and midlatitude weather and climate processes. For Africa, I am interested in understanding the mesoscale convective systems over the Congo Basin using the MPAS model. |
| Danqiong Dai | University of Saskatchewan | groundwater pumping, human management activities, Anthropocene, boreal forest, permafrost thawing, wetland | My research focused on 1) improving the representation of human management activities in the land surface model; 2) investigating human management activity’s impacts on the terrestrial water cycle and regional climate in the Anthropocene; 3) modelling boreal forest wetland variation under climate change |
| Ioannis Binietoglou | Clean Air Task Force (CATF) | methane | |
| Zhen Qu | North Carolina State University | methane, wetland, ENSO | My work interest is to understand natural greenhouse gas emissions in Africa, particularly wetland methane emissions and its interactions with ENSO and climate change. I have been quantifying emissions using Bayesian inference, data assimilation, machine learning, chemical transport model, and satellite remote sensing. |
| Akintomide Afolayan Akinsanola | University of Illinois Chicago/Argonne National Laboratory | Regional climate modelling, Monsoon, Extreme events, Climate Variability and change | I utilize varieties of climate models and observations to better understand climate dynamics, especially processes that impact tropical and mid-latitude precipitation. |
| Abdulamid Fakoya | University of Oklahoma | smoke aerosols, wildfires, in-situ observation, remote sensing, WRF | Utilizing remote sensing, airborne measurements and model output to enhance knowledge of how wildfires' radiative properties evolve during transport, and to assess their impact on solar energy balance and regional climate. |
| Farzaneh Taksibi | the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Multiphase Chemistry, Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA), Aerosol Phase State, Isoprene Emissions, Air Quality Modeling | Research objectives involve developing and evaluating semi-explicit gas-phase and multiphase chemical mechanisms for isoprene-derived SOA, implementing them in AQMs, and assessing their performance. |
| Yangyang Xu | Texas A&M University | climate modeling, climate adaptation and resilience, chemistry-climate interaction | I am interested in applying global and regional models to understand hydroclimate extremes in Africa. The end goal is to enhance the regional capacity to deal with climate risks in collaboration with local stakeholders. The climate interaction with the natural chemical cycle (fire, forest, wetland) is also of interest. https://yangyangxu.weebly.com/research.html |
| Denis Macharia Muthike | CU Boulder | Extreme events, climate, hydrology, remote sensing, data science, stakeholder engagement | interdisciplinary fields in climate adaptation including climatology, extreme events, hydrology, earth observations, data science, and adaptation science; experience primarily in eastern and southern Africa; current work includes research on flood and drought risks in Africa in support of adaptation interventions targeting rural communities; interest in modeling hydro-climatological processes to generate novel knowledge on the compound impacts of climate change, population growth, agricultural intensification, and watershed management practices on rural populations |
| Juan Sesmero | Purdue University | agriculture, sustainability | I study the economics of irrigated agriculture in developing countries (Mexico and Ethiopia), how farmers adjust production practices to past weather patterns (Malawi), and how markets can be better organized to develop a sustainable supply chain of high-quality agricultural products (Uganda). |
| Ismaila Diallo | San José State University | Climate Dynamics; Land/atmosphere interaction; Climate Modeling; Extreme Climate Events; Climate Variability | My research utilizes datasets from various sources to study climate variability and change on broad timescales, as well as to advance the understanding on the role of land-atmosphere biophysical interactions processes in the climate system, with a special emphasis on monsoon systems and the mechanisms involved. For Africa, I am interested in understanding processes that impact MCSs and extreme precipitation. |
| Dan Westervelt | Columbia University | air quality, sensors, climate modeling, aerosols | Prof. Westervelt works at the intersection of atmospheric chemistry, air quality, and climate change. He leads collaborative work on air quality observations, modeling, and satellite retrievals in several African countries |
| Kimberly Slinski | University of Maryland | Hydrology, Satellite Data, Food Security, Earth System Modeling | My research uses satellite remote sensing data and Earth system models to monitor and forecast water availability in food-insecure, data-sparse regions. |
| Meklit Berihun Melesse | Washington State University | reservoir management | multiple reservoir management in the Nile Basin |
| Belay Demoz | UMBC | Observation and modeling aspects of weather and airquality | His interests are in observation instrument networks for weather and climate, in particular upper air observations. He is also an adjunct professor at Howard University leading the WMO certified climate observation site at Beltsville, MD (https://www.gruan.org/). https://physics.umbc.edu/people/faculty/demoz/ |
| Emmanuel Audu | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | Climate Modelling; Climate Variability and Change, Atmospheric Dynamics, Tropical Precipitation | My research interest lies in utilizing earth system models and observations to investigate climate variability and change, aiming to enhance our understanding of atmospheric dynamics and the processes driving tropical precipitation. |
| Dorcas O Idowu | Syracuse University | Flooding, remote sensing, GIS, Early Flood Warning System | Research on satellite and hydrologic model applications for operational flood risk management in West Africa. https://phenomresearch.com/ |
| Tong Qiu | Duke University | biodiversity, Eco-climatology, remote sensing | Our lab at Duke University is interested in the causes and consequences of biodiversity change in a changing environment. For this project, we are interested in evaluating the ecological outcomes from restoration projects in Africa and their feedback to the climate system. More details can be found at www.tongqiulab.com |
| Kelly Núñez Ocasio | Texas A&M University | African weather and climate; numerical weather prediction; tropical cyclone genesis | My research focus is on understanding African easterly waves (AEW), mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), tropical cyclone genesis, and African weather and climate including monsoonal interactions with ITCZ and AEWs-MCS systems, using both observations and numerical weather prediction. An urgent need in Africa, especially over regions where livelihood depends on crops, is to try to understand extreme events (MCSs, AEWs, etc.), their relation to the monsoon, and how they will change with the changing climate. I'm interested in leading research to help answer these questions as well as informing the resulting science to the African community (both general and scientific) through this project as well as communicating the potential impacts and threats to help them better prepare. https://staff.ucar.edu/users/knocasio |
| Audrey Gaudel | NOAA | air quality, portable instruments and sensors, satellite and model evaluation | https://csl.noaa.gov/staff/audrey.gaudel/ |
| Israel Ropo Orimoloye | Western Michigan University | Environmental Management, Natural Resource Management, Climate Science, Drought Disaster and Desertification, Disaster Management, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics (GIS) | My research portfolio revolves around Earth Observation, Remote Sensing & GIS applications to drought disasters, land degradation, natural resource management, and climate science. |
| Laura Schmitt Olabisi | Michigan State University | participatory modeling, food systems, agricultural systems, climate adaptation, resilience. | I am an ecologist and a participatory modeler, working directly with communities on the ground creating change and building resilience in complex systems. My published research includes over 50 articles and a co-edited book on the practice of participatory modeling, and community-engaged work on food systems and climate-resilient agricultural practices. I have worked in the United States, Southeast Asia, and 12 African countries, including Nigeria, Mali and Zambia. |
Asia
| Hiroshi Tanimoto | National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan | Atmospheric Chemistry, Earth Observation Satellite, Air Quality and Climate Change | Hiroshi Tanimoto is Deputy Director of Earth System Division at NIES, and serves as Research Director of Climate Change and Air Quality Research Program and Science and Application Lead of NIES GOSAT-GW Project, which will make global and target observations of CO2, CH4 and NO2 on the single satellite platform. He has been working in the field of global atmospheric chemistry, leading the development of techniques for measuring and modeling trace gases and aerosols of atmospheric importance, the observations of spatial and temporal variations using ground-based, ship, aircraft, and satellite platforms, and the simulation of transport and transformation processes. |
ACOM Type
UCAR Africa Initiative