Science, Environment and Development Group

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Thursday, 9 October 2003
Challenges of Linking Forecasts to the Field: A Practitioner's Experience Building Regional Climate Outlook Forums in Africa
Leader: David Cash, Research Associate, Center for International Development, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Guest Speaker: Macol Stewart Cerda, President of Silmaril and former Director of Climate Forecasting and Applications Program for Africa at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
11:45 am - 2:00 pm, Perkins Room (E-415), 4th Floor, Eliot Building, KSG (Map)
Lunch will be served

Biography:

Macol Stewart Cerda, founder and President of Silmaril, LLC, is a development consultant and environmental policy advisor with over ten years of international experience. She is currently working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Global Programs to facilitate learning from current experiences managing climate variability to support planning for adaptation to climate change. From 2001-2003 Cerda was an Investing in Women in Development Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She advised the agency on more effectively integrating women and girls into its environmental, disaster mitigation, and information technology programs. Prior to serving as a Fellow at USAID, Cerda was Director of NOAA’s Climate Forecasting and Applications Program for Africa. She managed over 100 research, capacity building, and forecast applications activities in Africa and designed the regional infrastructure for the Seasonal Climate Outlook Fora that over 60 countries around the world now rely upon for adapting to climate variability. She also founded NOAA’s Climate and Health Program. Her research interests encompass cross time-scale learning, communication of climate information, and the roles of gender, age, and HIV status in adapting to climate variability and change. She earned an M.E.S. at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, an M.A. in international relations at Yale University, and an A.B. in philosophy from Princeton University.

Presentation slides:

Cerda, Macol Stewart. "Challenges of Linking Forecasts to the Field: A Practitioner's Experience Building Regional Climate Outlook Forums in Africa." PowerPoint presentation from Knowledge for Development Seminar, 9 October 2003, Center for International Development, Harvard University.

Background documents:

Buizer, James L., Josh Foster, and David Lund. 2000. "Global Impacts and Regional Actions: Preparing for the 1997-98 El Nino." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 81(9): 2121-2139, http://ams.allenpress.com/pdfserv/i1520-0477-081-09-2121.pdf.

NOAA/OGP over the last decade has supported pilot projects in Latin America, the Caribbean, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, and Africa to improve transfer of forecast information to climate sensitive sectors, study linkages between climate and human health, and distribute climate information products in certain areas. Working with domestic and international partners, NOAA/OGP helped organize a total of 11 "Climate Outlook Fora" around the world during the 1997-98 El Niño. This paper reports on these efforts.

Further readings:

International Research Institute for Climate Prediction. 2001. "Coping with the Climate: A Way Forward - Summary and Proposals for Action." A multi-stakeholder review of Regional Climate Outlook Forums concluded at an international workshop, 16-20 October 2000, Pretoria, South Africa. Palisades, NY: International Research Institute for Climate Prediction, http://iri.columbia.edu/outreach/publication/irireport/PretoriaSumRpt2.pdf.

This report summarizes the results of a global review of the effectiveness of the Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs) and related activities. Through a stakeholder driven process, drawing on the experiences of hundreds of organizations, the review has sought to identify key issues, constraints and opportunities for improving the forum process and its contribution to the management of climate variability and change. Proposals are made to advance the goals of the RCOFs to reduce vulnerability to climate variability and change in sensitive regions and sectors.

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