Dear RIfS Community,

We are sending out this first newsletter convinced that building community is the key to bridge the gap between climate research and society's information needs.

We would like to thank those who have accompanied us during the past year, including those involved in this non-exhaustive list of late 2024 events and efforts:

This 2025 is a new opportunity to face together the challenge of providing practical information integrating the best available science.

Get involved and spread the word!
 
 

RIfS and CMIP are looking for experts to join a new task team dedicated to the responsible use of climate data. The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) is currently the basis of a large number of efforts to plan for future climate on scales that are not always well-resolved in GCMs, often via derived products that seek to add value regarding additional processes. Given the well-established role of CMIP data, and derived products, to inform decisions at the regional scale, this task team seeks to reduce data misuse by developing recommendations for better means of documenting the limitations of CMIP model outputs for various key applications.

We strongly encourage applications from early to mid-career researchers, experts from all regions of the world and women and other underrepresented groups in climate science.

Deadline: March 01, 2025

 Get involved
 

We are launching an Africa Task Team for researchers living and working in Africa to define and address their regionally-specific challenges on climate information for society, and the agenda for investment in research capacity. The Task Team will be a model for how RIfS might organize similar activities in other regions of the world.

We are seeking experts with experience in the development of robust climate information for decisions and stakeholder engagement, in addition at least one of the following:

  • Climate data incorporating observational records
  • Advanced statistical methods in climate applications
  • Global and/or regional climate modeling, and/or analysis of physical processes in climate model outputs
  • Social science-informed methods for assessing user needs and/or communicating complex information
  • Seasonal-to-decadal prediction
  • Operational climate service provision.

Deadline: March 15, 2025

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RIfS is looking for a Science Officer based in Africa to coordinate activities with regional foci in the continent, under the guidance of the RIfS Africa Task Team, and with mentorship support from a local host institution.

This key coordination role requires someone with a working knowledge about physical climate science to serve as the connecting glue for various communities of practice that touch on producing robust information for decisions in the face of climate change. All serious candidates should begin the process of identifying a local organization in their region of Africa that could partner with the RIfS IPO to host them if their application were successful.

The Africa initiative is RIfS’ first regionally-focused investment of resources, thanks to a partnership with the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) project.

Deadline: March 31, 2025

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