Ernest Asi Afiesimama is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

environmental and

climate scientist Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospheric ...

who has worked for the Nigerian Meteorological Agency and was a consultant in environmental and climate affairs at Stern Integrated Projects He was also the Coordinator of Save Nigerian Environment Initiative. He currently works with the

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...

Background

Afiesimama was born in Ogoloma,

Okrika Okrika is a town in Rivers State, Nigeria, and serves as the headquarters of Okrika Local Government Area. It is situated on an island south of Port Harcourt, functioning as a suburb of the city. The inhabitants of Okrika LGA are of Ijaw descent ...

Rivers State Rivers is a states of Nigeria, state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed on 27 May 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Nigeria, Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include Imo State, Im ...

. He attended the

World Meteorological Organisation The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Interna ...

(WMO) Regional Training Centre (RTC) Lagos and obtained the Class III (Weather Analyst) and Class II (Weather Forecaster) Certificates with distinction. He completed the Aeronautical Meteorologist Course in 1988 at the

Nigerian College of Aviation Technology The Nigerian College of Aviation Technology is a higher education institute in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. It is funded by the Civil Aviation Department in the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Aviation. Formerly known as the Nigerian Civil Aviat ...

Zaria Zaria is a List of Nigerian cities by population, metropolitan city in Nigeria, located at present time within four local government areas in Kaduna State. It serves as the capital of the Zazzau Emirate Council and is one of the original sev ...

and later studied at the

Federal University of Technology Akure The Federal University of Technology Akure (also known as FUT Akure or simply FUTA) is a federal government-owned university located in Akure, Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria. It was established in 1981 by the Nigerian federal government, the ...

. He holds a first class degree in

atmospheric physics Within the atmospheric sciences, atmospheric physics is the application of physics to the study of the atmosphere. Atmospheric physicists attempt to model Earth's atmosphere and the atmospheres of the other planets using fluid flow equations, rad ...

(meteorology) and Master of Sciences (Distinction) in

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

and

water resources Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either Fresh water, freshwater from natural sources, or water produ ...

. He obtained his Ph.D. in

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

(climate dynamics) at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

and has been in

environmental consultancy Environmental consulting is often a form of compliance (regulation), compliance Consultant, consulting, in which the consultant ensures that the client maintains an appropriate measure of compliance with environmental regulations. Sustainable cons ...

for many years. He also obtained a first class degree in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

from

The University of Law The University of Law (founded in 1962 as The College of Law of England and Wales) is a private for-profit university in the United Kingdom, providing undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law, business, psychology, criminology, policing ...

, United Kingdom. He has an advanced diploma in electrical/electronic engineering and other postgraduate certificates in environmental and climate related fields.

Weatherman

He joined the then Department of Meteorological Services of the Federal Service and was a national TV weather presenter in 1997. He received an award for excellence in weather presentation. He was the head of international relations and protocols and also the general manager,

numerical weather prediction Numerical weather prediction (NWP) uses mathematical models of the atmosphere and oceans to weather forecasting, predict the weather based on current weather conditions. Though first attempted in the 1920s, it was not until the advent of comput ...

s (NWP) of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet). He is currently the Programme Manager, Offices for Africa and Least Developed Countries at the World Meteorological Organisation in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Afiesimama was a senior associate scientist of the

International Centre for Theoretical Physics The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is a research center for physical and mathematical sciences, located in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The center operates under a tripartite agreement between the Gov ...

(Physics of Weather and Climate Group),

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

from 2002 to 2014. He was the lead author of Nigeria's Second National Communication on the development of Climate Scenarios in Nigeria.

Later career

He was the managing director of Stern Integrated Projects. These projects are related to the environmental training and consulting, environmental impact assessments and auditing, environmental vulnerability, mitigation and adaptation due to

climate variability and change Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more ...

. In addition, he was the national coordinator of the Save Nigerian Environment Initiative (SNEI)., a non-governmental, non-profit organization that strives to sensitize, educate and promote the protection, conservation and efficient use of the environment in a sustainable manner for socio-economic development. He writes reports on

environmental impact assessment Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental impact, environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the te ...

, issues relating to socio-economic analyses on climate risks, mitigation options and adaptation strategies due to

on local, national and international projects. He was a member of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA-2050), International Scientific Steering Committee (ISSC) in Europe and the president of the scientific committee of AMMA in Africa. He is a member of professional bodies including the Nigerian Hydrogeological Association, the

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is a scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance the atmosph ...

and the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afies, Ernest People from Okrika Scientists from Rivers State Living people Nigerian meteorologists Federal University of Technology Akure alumni University of Lagos alumni Nigerian climatologists Year of birth missing (living people)