Candyce E. Clark is the Program Director for the Research Applications Program. Her professional interests include the application of scientific information in the decision-making process, particularly the application of climate forecasts for societal benefit. She studied Biology, Oceanography, Political Science and Marine Affairs at Mount Holyoke College, University College of North Wales (Menai Bridge), and the University of Rhode Island.
Virginia
García-Acosta is Social Anthropologist (BA and Masters) and Historian
(PhD), and a researcher in CIESAS (Social Anthropology Higher Studies
and Research Center) in Mexico City since 1974. She is the author of nearly
100 articles and 14 books. Her research relates to food history and to
disaster and risk from a historical-anthropological perspective. Her interests
are around earthquakes and agricultural disasters (floods, droughts, hailstorms
and so on) in Mexican history.
Virginia García-Acosta is now CoPI in a research project on El Niño and the social construction of risks in Latin America, sponsored by IAI (InterAmerican Institute for Global Change Research) and LA RED (Network for Social Studies in Disaster Prevention in Latin America).
Dr.
Jacobs has been at the National Science Foundation (NSF) for 19 years
and provides oversight to the National Center for Atmospheric Research
(NCAR) and activities at University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
(UCAR). His oversight responsibilities cover a wide range of topics ranging
from supercomputers to aircraft and from climate modeling to impacts on
society resulting from natural and anthropogenic induced changes in the
environment. Dr. Jacobs has represented geoscience in a variety of NSF
studies and initiatives related to high performance computing and information
technology, including the recent Blue Ribbon Panel on Cyberinfrastructure.
Prior to coming to NSF, Dr. Jacobs was executive VP and senior research scientist at The Center for the Environment and Man (CEM) in Hartford, CT. His basic research interests included four-dimensional computer models of the ocean, atmosphere and land processes, data analyses of large environmental databases, and the development of computer graphics software for the analysis of observed and model data. Domestic and foreign governments as well as private industry sponsored Dr. Jacobs' research.
Dr. Jacobs received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Texas
A&M University and his Master of Science degree in Oceanography, also
from Texas A&M University. His Doctor of Philosophy degree was awarded
by New York University in Oceanography.
Dr.
Michael H. Glantz, convener of the Usable Science workshop on Early Warning
Systems, has been involved in various early warning projects since the
mid-1970s. In 1976, he edited a book on The Politics of Natural Disaster:
The Case of the Sahel Drought, which deals with ways to understand and
avert future drought-related disasters. In 1987, Drought and Hunger in
Africa: Denying Famine a Future was published based on a colloquium he
organized in 1985. The book contains solutions proposed by experts in
a broad range of disciplines for dealing with drought, famine, and the
agrarian crisis in Africa.
In late October 1993, he organized the first Usable Science workshop,
"Food Security, Early Warning, and El Nino" in Budapest, Hungary.
This workshop brought together people with a variety of climate-related
research and research application interests in order to identify the potential
value of early warning systems designed specifically to detect impending
severe food shortages and famines. Glantz is the author of numerous articles
relating to how climate affects society, especially in developing countries
and, conversely, how society affects climate. For more information on
Dr. Glantz and his other research interests, please see his website at
www.esig.ucar.edu/HP_mickey.html.
Dr. René
Gommes coordinates the activities of the Agrometeorology Group in the
Environment and Natural Resources Service of FAO.
Although his basic training is in biogeochemistry and plant ecology, he spent most of his career in WMO and FAO as an agricultural climatologist. His main professional interests include agro-climatic risk assessments, the impact of extreme geophysical factors on food security and the development of operational tools for agrometeorologists in developing countries.
He has worked in about 45 countries.
Present
Post:
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya
Professor, Department of Geography, University of Malaya
Academic Qualifications
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) University of Malaya 1979
PhD (Applied Geomorphology) University of Sheffield 1987
Academic Interests
1. Fluvial Geomorphology
2. Environmental Hazard Studies
3. Natural Resources Research & Landuse Development Studies
Research
1. Catchment Management Systems of Upper Drainage Basin Systems
2. Flood Hazards - Processes, Effects, Impacts and Management Strategies
in Malaysia
3. The Effects of Climatic Fluctuations on Malaysia's Coastal Systems
4. Site Analysis for the Potential Set Up of Power Plants in Malaysia
5. Dam Break Disaster and Mitigation Analysis in Malaysia
6. Urban Environmental Degradation and its Impact on the Urban Dweller
7. Urban Geomorphology and Urban Landslides
Lino Naranjo
Diaz is a 53 years old Meteorologist graduated in the Havana University
in Cuba. He has a doctorate in Geographical Sciences since 1989. Currently
he is working as researcher in "MeteoGalicia" a Meteorological
service from the Galician government at the University of Santiago de
Compostela , Spain. Formerly he spent over 25 years as senior researcher
in the Cuban meteorological service where he was deeply involved in hurricanes
warning and climate hazards studies. Since 1995, he has been collaborating
with ESIG studies on Usable Sciences, participating in the UNFIP/INEP/NCAR
project. "Reducing the impact of Environmental Emergencies through
Early Warning and preparedness. The case of the 1997-98 El Niño"
as team leader. His main interests are those related with climate variability
and its impacts.
Martin
Rice is a Programme Manager (communications and development) with the
Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN). The APN is an inter-governmental
network for the promotion of global change research and links between
science and policy making in the Asia-Pacific Region. For more information
about the APN, please refer to www.apn.gr.jp.
Martin has a Masters of Science in Environmental Management and a Masters
of Arts in Geography and International Relations from the University of
Aberdeen, Scotland. His professional interests include climate extremes
and human security - with a lot still to learn!
Kelly Sponberg is Project Manager of the Climate Information Project (CIP). He is interested in disaster reporting and assessments, human perception and use of technology, telecommunications inequality, and humanitarian assistance. He received his B.A. in Geoscience from Princeton University and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Geography at Rutgers.
Since
1987, Igor Zonn has been the Deputy Director of the Engineering Research
Center on Water Management of Land Reclamation and Environment "Soyuzvodproject"
and Vice-president of the Russian UNEPCOM.
Education:
Doctor of Geography - 1990
Candidate of Geography - 1971
Moscow State University, Geographical Faculty - 1960
His project experience include:
-
Water Use and Management of the River Euphrates and Tigris in Turkey, Syria and Iraq - 1962-1963
-
Reclamation and Water Economy Development Project in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan - 1963-1973
-
Plan of Action for the Kalahari-Namib Region - 1990
-
Water Economy and Environmental. Impact in Colorado-Amudarya River Systems - 1991-1993
-
Project of Recultivation and Environmental Consequences of Asbestos Lands in Russia - 1993-1995
-
Aral Sea Project - 1991-1995
Igor Zonn has published more than 300 articles and monographs.