6 March 2024, Wednesday, 14:00-15:30 UTC.
The third webinar in this series is focused on African Monsoons, which will be chaired by Dr. Rondrotiana Barimalala, (Norwegian Research Center, Bergen, Norway) and Dr. Akintomide Akinsanola (University of Illinois, Chicago, USA).
For more information, please contact: Wushan YING (
Speakers (Please click on the topic to view the presentation):
Prof. Michela Biasutti (Columbia University, USA): “Climate Change in the Sahel: The Past and the Future”
Dr. Samson Hagos (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA): “Synchronization of the Recent Decline of East African Long Rains and Northwestern Asian Warming”
Webinar Co-chairs:
Dr. Rondrotiana Barimalala (Norwegian Research Center (NORCE), Bergen, Norway)
Dr. Akintomide Akinsanola (University of Illinois Chicago/Argonne National Laboratory, USA)
Watch the recording of the webinar here:
List of questions and answers from the webinar can be viewed here.
About the speakers and Chairs:
Prof. Michela Biasutti
Michela Biasutti is a Lamont Research Professor at Columbia University. Trained first as a physicist in her native Italy, she went on to receive a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle and later moved to the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in 2004, where she has spent the rest of her career. Her research has focused on the dynamics that control tropical rainfall, and especially the variability of the West African monsoon. This interest has led to her involvement with the WCRP Grand Challenge in Clouds, Circulation, and Climate Sensitivity, the organization of a model intercomparison project, and the organization of meetings and summer schools focused on the tropical rain bands.
Dr. Samson Hagos
Dr. Hagos earned his bachelor's degree in physics in 2000 from University of Asmara, Eritrea, and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences in 2008 from Cornell University. He served as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences before joining Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 2009 where he is a senior scientist. His research interests are focused on understanding and modeling of precipitation processes over a wide range of spatio-temporal scales, from the life cycles of individual convective cells to tropical intra-seasonal oscillations, atmospheric rivers and inter-annual to multi-decadal variations of monsoon systems. He is the recipient of the 2019 Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award from American Meteorological Society for his contribution to the field of tropical climate variability.
Dr. Rondrotiana Barimalala
Dr Barimalala is a senior researcher at the Norwegian Research Center (NORCE), Bergen, Norway. Her research interests include climate variability, modelling and change; air-sea interaction and African climate. She is a lead author for the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the IPCC, Working Group- I: The Physical Science Basis.
She is also a member of CLIVAR/GEWEX Monsoons Panel and the Co-chair of the regional Working Group on African Monsoons.
Dr. Akintomide Akinsanola
Dr. Akinsanola is broadly interested in how large-scale tropospheric circulation influences regional climate and climatic extremes. He utilizes varieties of climate models and observations to better understand climate dynamics, especially processes that impact monsoon systems as well as tropical and mid-latitude precipitation. His research also involves identifying sources of climate model biases and reducing climate change uncertainty at regional scales.
He is also the Co-Chair of the regional Working Group on African Monsoons.
Organizing Institution
WCRP CLIVAR/GEWEX Monsoons Panel
The Working Group on African Monsoons is one of Working Groups under WCRP CLIVAR/GEWEX Monsoons Panel. African Monsoons contained two components - West African Monsoon and East African Monsoon. This working group aims to reduce the African community's vulnerability to variations in the strengths of these two monsoons. It coordinates scientific community efforts to understand the monsoon systems in Africa and their predictability and works to improve the reliability of forecasts to enable effective forward planning. The Working Group is supported by the International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO), hosted by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune, India.