Author: Karlina Ozolina

How to reduce Africa’s undue exposure to climate risks

A new article recently published in Nature highlighted the ways Africa is being disproportionately impacted by climate change induced extreme weather. The authors, including KADI project partner Patricia Nying’uro from Kenya Meteorological Department, also suggested solutions and next steps for climate risk reduction.

“Our new paper highlights that in order to cushion African countries from the impacts of severe or extreme weather events, there urgently needs to be an improvement in the density of observation stations across the continent” says Patricia. “Additionally, research funding should address gaps in data collection and analysis, and data must be publicly available, easily accessible and shared with African governments and intergovernmental organizations”, she adds.

This aligns with our work in KADI where identifying operational capabilities of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in Africa as well as outlining ideal Research Infrastructure are the first steps towards developing solutions to address data and research gaps.

You can read the full article by clicking here.

Postdoc opportunity at Empa, Switzerland on long-term time series of atmospheric composition data

The Horizon Europe Project KADI provides knowledge and climate services for an African observation and Data research Infrastructure. KADI is run by a consortium of partners from Africa and Europe. The project goals are (i) to improve the knowledge base on climate change in Africa, (ii) to identify societal demands and expectations, and (iii) to design research capacities for climate change observations and paving the way for their implementation. Empa’s Laboratory for Air Pollution / Environmental Technology has long-lasting experience with air quality monitoring and data analysis in developing countries, including Africa. Building on this expertise, we contribute to KADI through the the analysis and interpretation of atmospheric composition time series. Therefore, Empa are looking for a highly motivated postdoc or scientist.

Your tasks

  • Analysis of long-term time series of atmospheric composition data from the Mount Kenya monitoring station
  • Collaboration with colleagues from the Kenya Meteorological Department
    Interaction with different partners of the KADI consortium
  • Active role in completing project milestones and preparing project deliverables

Required qualifications

  • PhD degree in atmospheric sciences, physics, environmental sciences or a related discipline.
  • Excellent communication skills and intercultural experience
  • Fluency in English is required; basic knowledge of German is desirable
  • Experience in working in Africa will be a plus

The offer

The position is based on a 6-month contract. Extensions and collaborations with other projects are possible, depending on the qualifications. The successful candidate will benefit from an inspiring international environment and will closely collaborate with colleagues in Kenya. We offer a highly stimulating research environment with excellent infrastructure and a broad interdisciplinary surrounding. Working place will be Empa in Dübendorf, close to Zurich.

The position is available in fall 2023 and will remain open until filled.

More information about the role and how to apply can be found by clicking here.

Experiences as an inevitable part of the human dimension of research infrastructures

In this pilot we aim to summarise, integrate, and assess the value of existing long-term climate observations in order to provide a guidebook of the lessons learned. These are expected to be an essential part of a future climate observation research infrastructure in Africa.

We have chosen Kenya as the ideal showcase for this pilot, due to the already existing infrastructures for atmospheric observations as well as continuous ecosystem flux measurements, and the well-established long-term cooperation with European scientists.