Bio
Chair
Alberto Troccoli
Dr. Alberto Troccoli is the co-founder and managing director of the world energy meteorology council (WEMC). With over 25 years of experience in the fields of meteorology and climate, he has more recently been exploring their applications in the energy sector. Alberto holds a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography from the University of Edinburgh (UK)
Vice-chair
Tobias Fuchs
Mr. Fuchs is a member of the board of directors of the German meteorological service (DWD). He is responsible for DWDs climate services (Operations and Research) – which inter alia comprise the implementation of achievements from national and European research activities on user-oriented climate services for the energy sector. His scientific focus is the application of regional NWP re-analyses and of weather and climate predictions for operational services in support of the German energy transition from carbon-based energy production to renewable energy production.
Lucy Mtilatila
Dr. Lucy Mtilatila is a Climate Scientist who has over 20 years' experience in meteorology, climatology, climate modelling and hydrometeorology. She enjoys modelling and recently she obtained her Doctorate from Potsdam University in Germany. The study that was on climate change impacts on drought, water availability and hydropower production is being expanded under Focus Africa Project to address the reliability of hydropower on Shire River in Malawi in the wake of climate change. She did her master's at Monash University in Australia, and prior that she did Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science at the University of Malawi – The Polytechnic (Also known as Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences). She is currently the Director of Climate Change and Meteorological Services in Malawi.
Members
Annarita Mariotti
Dr. Annarita Mariotti is an accomplished climate scientist with more than twenty years of research experience and numerous publications. In her career she has worked as a researcher in academia, a program director at CPO, a science diplomat in China, and a policy advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). She is now a senior advisor and scientist at CPO contributing to develop and realize a vision for future climate science and actionable information.
Yanbo Shen
Dr. Yanbo Shen is a senior engineer and chief scientist at the Public Meteorological Service Center of China Meteorological Administration. He graduated from the Department of Atmospheric Science at Lanzhou University of China with a bachelor's degree and the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences with PHD. He has long been engaged in the monitoring, assessment, prediction of wind and solar energy resources, as well as research on the risk assessment of meteorology disasters in the energy sector. As an academic leader in the field of energy meteorology at the China Meteorological Administration, he currently serves as the Science Director of the Wind and Solar Energy Center of China Meteorological Administration. He joined IEA PVPS (International Energy Agency, Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme) as a member of China in 2021, participating in Task 16, Solar Resource for High Penetration and Large-Scale Applications.
Chiara Cagnazzo
Dr. Cagnazzo is Sectoral Information System Manager at Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) ECMWF, where she addresses the challenge of transforming user needs in different sectors into usable climate-derived information. As a scientist, her prior research was dedicated to understanding the role of atmospheric variability and its representation in models on climate predictability at timescales from sub-seasonal to decadal, as well as on long-term projections. Dr. Cagnazzo received her PhD degree from the Polytechnique University of Paris in 2004.
Rajeev Kumar Mehajan
During a decorated career of close to four decades in 12 organisations, including the United Nations (UN), the Indian Air Force (IAF), India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Defence HQs and Anusandhan National Research Foundation at Department of Science & Technology. Dr. Rajeev Mehajan commenced his career as a Commissioned Officer (in Meteorology branch) in IAF, has served at apex levels, and has been a driving force in game-changing initiatives that transformed the country’s STEM profile and capabilities. His remarkable contributions have been awarded by the UN, the IAF and have recently been appreciated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. In recognition of par excellence professionalism, the Hon'ble President of India has appointed him as nominee for selecting professors in IIT Kharagpur.
Dr. Rajeev is an intragovernmental member at UN as well as meteorological panelist at Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of India. He has mentored more than a thousand current generation professionals in various fields and is a panel member for selection of government officers at Union Public Services Commission of India. He has also been the Chairman, Board of Studies for Meteorology at Bharthiar University, Coimbatore. As subject matter expert, he has regular presence at the national broadcasting audio and visual platforms. He has a doctorate degree in Meteorology and four masters 'degrees in ‘Mathematics’, ‘Meteorology', 'Defence Strategy’ and ‘Business Administration’.
Dr. Rajeev is a blogger, a published poet, a dedicated Marathoner, enjoys Hath Yoga and participates in Professional Cycling Expeditions at the age of 60. He enjoys growing his professional network and is well connected at LinkedIn profile as well as personal website, the latter includes all his social media handles & personal blog.
Henerica Tazvinga
Dr. Tazvinga works at the South African Weather Service. She is the leader of the energy team which is responsible for the solar radiometric network project, which involves monitoring and storing observational and historical data. Before joining the South African Weather Service, she was working for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of South Africa. She earned her Master's degree in Renewable Energy and she specialized in energy optimization and management in renewable energy-based systems during her Ph.D. She has been involved in many energy, consulting, and innovating projects. . Her research interests are in energy optimization and management of micro-grid systems, meteorology for the energy sector, and water-food-energy nexus.
Shamsa Alkaabi
Shamsa is a hydrological analyst at the National Centre of Meteorology in the UAE, focusing on climate research by analyzing large datasets to advance the field of hydrology. She has a strong interest in renewable energy, hydrological extremes, Urban Hydrology, and climate change.
Juan Crespo Fuentes
Mr. Juan Crespo Fuentes is a professional Meteorologist with training in Applied Meteorology and Climatology. He works at the National Meteorological Service of Chile in the Climatology area, where he is in charge of the Climatology Laboratory and Territorial Information Management Office. Mr. Crespo Fuentes is part of the Solar Radiation and Ozone group at the Service and serves as the focal point for Climate Services for the Energy Sector of the ENANDES project.
Muhammad Firdaus Ammar bin Abdullah
Mr. Muhammad Firdaus Ammar Bin Abdullah is the Principal Assistant Director at the Research and Technical Development Division, Malaysian Meteorological Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability. He has been involved in regional Weather and Climate Modelling at various resolution and time scales for approximately 15 years. His experiences include various international projects involving Climate Change Projections, Monsoon circulation studies and the response of Numerical Weather Prediction Models in the tropics as well as Early Warnings and Disaster Risk Reduction. One of the notable achievements is the Resilient Cities Project whereby an operational Mult Hazard Platform was developed for the city of Kuala Lumpur.
Mareledi Gina
Dr. Mareledi Gina Maswabi holds a PhD in Energy, Resource and Environmental Policy from the Green School, Korea University. Currently she works for the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub as a National Climate Finance Adviser. Prior to that she worked for Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation as well as the Ministry of Energy in Botswana, focusing on development of energy sector policies and strategies for Botswana. She has vested interest in low carbon energy development, especially through energy transitions.
Vaileth Jonas Masaba
Ms. Vaileth Jonas Masaba is working with Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA) as a meteorologist in Climate Change and Climatology Unit which is under Research and Applied Meteorology Division. She is a member of the secretariat in Tanzania Meteorological Society (TMS) and a member of the African Meteorological Society (AfMS) serving in Education and Training Committee. Vaileth is also working as a consultant and focal point of some projects within TMA, in addition she is involved in non-profit NGOs like Youth for Climate Action (Y4CA) and Prime Climate Care (PCC) as a Climate activist towards Climate Justice.
Dinara Fasolko
Ms. Dinara Fasolko is a senior research scientist in Voeikov Main Geophysical Observatory of the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet). Her research focuses on assessing the impact of climate change on various economy sectors, including traditional and renewable energy. She carries out a climate service that is based on observed and expected climate changes and micro-climatic assessments of tailored climatic characteristics in complex terrain. The sphere of her activities also includes the development of adaptation measures and the updating building codes in view of changing climate conditions.
Kristian Horvath
Dr. Horvath is vice Head of the research and development section in Croatia meteorology and hydrology service agency (DHMZ). He is specialized in numerical modelling and meteorology. After his PhD he has worked as an investigator in DTU working on wind energy topics.
Associated Member
Dong Zhao
Dong Zhao holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in climate system and global change. Currently, he serves as the general manager of Beijing Globe MetRoute Technology, a corporation primarily dedicated to offering customized weather and climate services to the maritime, aviation, and energy sectors globally, with a primary focus on impact-based early warning, climate change mitigation and adaptation. Additionally, he acts as the executive deputy director at the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) Key Laboratory for Aviation Meteorology, facilitating innovation and enhancing productivity through partnerships between research institutions and enterprises, as well as the profound integration of meteorology and aviation. Zhao is also a professor of engineering at CMA and served as a core member of the Study Group on Integrated Energy Services (SG-ENE) of WMO. Previously, he was a researcher at the CMA Public Meteorological Service Center and the National Climate Center. From June 2014 to June 2015, Zhao was a Humphrey Fellow at the University of California, Davis in the field of natural resources, environmental policy, and climate change. Zhao is recognized as an active leader with a passion for providing innovative and impact-based weather and climate services to the Transportation & Energy sectors. He has received several influential awards from the China Meteorological Administration, the Chinese Meteorological Society, the China Meteorological Service Association, and some energy sectors. Zhao won the Fengyun Meteorological Talents Award from CMSA in 2022 and the Innovative Work Award of CMA in 2023 for his innovative efforts and forward-looking practices in meteorological services.
Ilias G. Pechlivanidis
Ilias Pechlivanidis is an Associate Professor and Senior Researcher in hydrology and water resources at SMHI and the Project Manager of the Analytics and Dissemination Centre for the Copernicus Emergency Management Service - Floods. He is a Member of the WMO Research Board, Expert Member Hydrology of the EUMETSAT, the Co-Chair of the Hydrologic Ensemble Prediction Experiment (HEPEX) scientific initiative, and a Reference Member at the Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science (CNDS). In the past years, he was the Chair of the EGU Hydrological Forecasting sub-division and the first Earth Observation Evangelist for the agriculture sector of the FIRE forum. His scientific achievements focus on hydrometeorological forecasting, environmental change impacts, science communication, cross-cutting applications of earth observations, early warning and user-tailored water and climate services. He has been leading tasks in co-creating operational early warning systems and hydro-climate services over Europe and the globe.
Jose Alberto Zuniga Mora
Jose Alberto is the Head of Coordination of the areas of Hydrology, Topography and Structural survey at the Department of Basic Studies Costa Rican Institute of Electricity. As a Civil Engineer, he has worked for more than 25 years in Hydrology, being in charge of 90% and 45% of the hydrological and meteorological networks of the country, respectively. In the early stage he was part of the group in charge of field work and later was asked to be in charge of Hydrological Feasibility studies for hydropower projects, design of Early Warning systems for dam sites and survey of sediments in reservoirs. He has participated in the Regionalization of extreme floods in Costa Rica and several environmental flow assessments. The department he works in delivers forecasts on precipitation, wind and discharge for hourly and daily energy dispatch purposes. His area of interest is forecast of renewable sources of energy. In 2020 Jose Alberto was appointed as Hydrological Advisor to the president of RA IV.
Focal Point ET-CDC & SC-HYD
Marisol Osman
Marisol Osman is a Researcher at the Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She holds PhD and Diploma degrees from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Buenos Aires. Her research focuses on variability, predictability, and prediction skill on subseasonal and seasonal timescales, developing forecast tools and products for various economic sectors, such as agriculture and energy.
Click to come back to the SG-RENE webpage or SERCOM homepage.