Leadership Team
Dr Chris Lennard
Climate System Analysis Group, University of Cape Town; Co-Chair, WCRP Academy
A climatologist with a background in zoology and oceanography, Dr Lennard served as a Lead Author for the IPCC AR6 WGII Africa Chapter, IPCC Special Report on Land and Climate and is a Lead Author in AR7, WGI Chapter 9. He co-chairs the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Academy, which builds climate research capacity across the Global South. Chair
Prof. Babatunde Abiodun
SARChi Chair in Ocean and Atmospheric Modelling, University of Cape Town
Prof. Abiodun coordinates the atmospheric science programme at UCT and leads climate modelling initiatives to understand Africa’s climate systems. He has contributed as a Lead Author to the IPCC’s 5th Assessment Report and UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook 6.
Dr Romaric C. Odoulami
African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town
Dr Odoulami’s research bridges climate modelling, hydrology, and socio-economic analysis to understand the implications of SRM for Africa. His work focuses on linking scientific evidence to governance and stakeholder engagement.
Prof Nana Ama Browne Klutse
Department of Physics, University of Ghana; Vice-Chair, IPCC Working Group I
Professor Klutse is a climatologist whose work focuses on regional climate modelling and climate impacts on society, including health, energy and gender. She is Head of the Department of Physics, University of Ghana, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Ghana, and a co-chair of Working Group 1 in the IPCC 7th Assessment Report. She supports climate research and training in Ghana and across Africa.
Dr Portia Adade Williams
Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI), CSIR Ghana
Dr Adade Williams is a climate change researcher focusing on climate impacts and adaptation in agricultural systems, and on socio-economic and innovation studies. She contributed to the IPCC AR6 Africa Chapter and the African Union’s 2022–2032 Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy, and advises the African Group of Negotiators on the Global Goal on Adaptation.
Dr Kwesi Quagraine
Lecturer and climate research scientist, University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Dr Kwesi Akumenyi Quagraine is a climate research scientist whose work spans climate modeling, extreme weather analysis, and the assessment of climate intervention strategies over Africa. His research at the National Center for Atmospheric Research leverages advanced computational methods to understand the risks and regional implications of solar geoengineering. As part of the Hub’s leadership team, he champions African-driven research, resilience, and climate governance.
Students and Early-Career Researchers
Profiles of ACIRH-affiliated students and postdoctoral researchers contributing to SRM and climate science in Africa.
Thierry C. Fotso-Nguemo
Thierry is an early career researcher at the National Institute of Cartography in Yaoundé, working on climate extremes, their socio-economic implications, and the potential of climate engineering to help address the risks posed by climate change.
Frederic Bonou
Frederic is a senior researcher and lecturer at IRHOB/UNSTIM and a physical oceanographer working on climate change, climate geoengineering, ocean acidification, sea level rise, coastal dynamics, coastal erosion, and ocean modelling.
Jeremiah Ayodele Ogunniyi
Jeremiah is an early career climate scientist at the University of Cape Town, studying extreme weather, heat stress, rainfall variability, and solar radiation modification to help reduce climate risks and support adaptation planning in Africa.
Temitope Samuel Egbebiyi
Temitope is an early career researcher affiliated with the University of Cape Town and Cornell University, working on climate interventions, climate adaptation, and early-warning systems, and on making scientific information clear and useful for a wide range of users.
Isaac Oosthuizen
Isaac is an Honours-level researcher at the University of Cape Town, interested in how climate change and solar radiation management may affect vulnerable communities, with a particular focus on the global South.
Trisha Patel
Trisha is an early career researcher at the African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, working on climate risk and solar radiation modification, including justice-centred impact assessment and the socio-economic risk pathways linked to SRM.
Evans Milikau
Evans is an MSc researcher at the University of Nairobi, focusing on how stratospheric aerosol interventions could influence regional climate and climate extremes in vulnerable regions like the Greater Horn of Africa.
Samuel Lawine
Samuel is a postgraduate climate science researcher at the University of Energy and Natural Resources, studying large-scale atmospheric processes and stratospheric aerosol injection to understand how changes in the stratosphere shape climate and rainfall in West Africa.
Rodrigue Idohou
Rodrigue is an early career climate scientist at the National University of Agriculture, working at the intersection of climate, ecosystems, and community resilience, and exploring how solar radiation modification, carbon dioxide removal, and nature-based solutions affect vulnerable communities in West Africa.
Kouakou Kouadio
Kouakou is a senior researcher at Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, focusing on climate change impacts, extreme rainfall, and monsoon dynamics in West Africa, and how stratospheric aerosol injection could influence regional climate risks and SRM governance discussions.
Franklin Opijah
Franklin is a senior researcher at the University of Nairobi, specialising in dynamical modelling and prediction of atmospheric processes related to weather, global warming, climate change, and climate intervention.
Codjo David Degbey
Codjo is a PhD researcher at the African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, working at the interface of climate and data science to understand how solar radiation injection and other intervention strategies might influence regional weather extremes and early-warning systems.
Kefo Apa Habiba
Habiba is a research consultant at the African Climate and Development Initiative, using climate model simulations to study geoengineering and non-geoengineering scenarios and how they might change renewable energy potential and key climate variables in highly vulnerable African countries.
Jean Pierre Nghonda
Jean Pierre is a senior researcher at the Climate Change Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Cartography, working at the interface of climate and tropical hydrology to understand how solar radiation modification and climate change could affect water resources, hydrological extremes, and communities.
