Board of Directors

I am an atmospheric dynamicist currently working as a modeller of weather and climate risks for the re/insurance industry. I have a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from McGill University and several years of postdoctoral experience in atmospheric and climate dynamics in North America and in Europe. My academic research aimed at exploring fundamental questions about the atmosphere. For example: what controls the strength of storms; or what determines the vertical structure of the atmosphere? I also investigated novel approaches to computing climate statistics directly, rather than through aggregation of "simulated weather", as is currently done in climate research. Exploring these questions involved both numerical modelling and theory. My current position as a risk modeller is making me familiar with observational climate science without losing grip on climate modeling.

I am passionate about knowledge. As a researcher and modeller, an important component of my job is to make knowledge relevant and useful to stakeholders and to the general public. And I think this is also one of the missions of Climanosco. I see Climanosco as a bridge between scientists and non-scientists. This is a formidable asset to make it a successful endeavour because the pursuit of knowledge is, in essence, a public service. Climanosco is a direct channel where scientists educate non-scientists to climate science and to scientific thinking. And through this channel, scientists also learn from non-scientists: what are their needs; What matters for them? I am happy to see that many early career scientists are already involved in Climanosco. Popularizing science contributes to becoming a better scientist because explaining elaborate concepts from the basics reveals what is not truly understood and forces to deepen one's and everyone's knowledge.

My name is Cassandra Bolduc and I am from Canada. I work as a Physical Scientist at the Meteorological Services of Canada, which is part of Environment and Climate Change Canada. My background is in solar physics and atmospheric chemistry, and I have recently made the transition to meteorology; more precisely, I am now working on data assimilation. My job is to integrate observational data into computer models in order to produce weather forecasts, while taking into account the uncertainty on the measurements as well as initial guests obtained by model runs. I love using advanced mathematics, coding programs and manipulating satellite data; but the best part of my job is knowing that my work has a positive impact for the public.

Sharing my passion for the physical sciences has always been important throughout my studies and career. I realized that people are genuinely interested in celestial and meteorological phenomena, but that the information they need to understand them is often presented in a way that is either too technical, oversimplified, or plainly inaccurate. I believe Climanosco is a wonderful solution to connect scientists and the public and to make science accessible for everyone.
I see Climanosco as the future reference for anyone looking for answers that are clear while being backed up by scientists. The different point of views would be reflected, so that the general public knows how science works and how theories and hypothesis are verified. This would show that discussions are part of the scientific method and that our knowledge is always evolving. I imagine nuanced affirmations and thorough explanations, far from the catchy but often inaccurate headlines we are used to. My goal is also that the public gets a better understanding of how complex the atmosphere and the climate are, so they know how difficult it is to predict their future, but also to get them interested to know more about them. I hope to help the public develop a sense of responsibility by knowing how our lifestyle can affect climate change, and that this journal becomes a reference and a source of information for our policy makers.

I am a physicist with 15 years experience in scientific research on atmospheric processes. During this time, I worked as a research fellow in Switzerland and the UK, and as a professor at McGill University in Canada. Through my scientific career, I have been struck by the lack of connection between the scientific world and the world in which most people live. This lack of connection has so far left most people around the world short of knowledge on climate processes, despite their increasing impacts and our increasing scientific knowledge. Since my return in Zurich (Switzerland) late 2012, I have been increasingly using my time to work on ideas that can help improve this connection.

As founder of Climanosco, my goal is to make our scientific knowledge on climate processes accessible to everyone in a non-scientific language. As is true for most scientific disciplines with intensive research activities, this knowledge is nothing static. It is developing in a highly dynamical manner at different research institutes and universities around the world, through small and big steps. Its hypotheses and results are always again revisited, re-explored and re-evaluated by climate scientists. This process of knowledge development is hard to cast into a classical journalistic framework without losing much if its substance. I believe that only the climate scientists who work every day on developing this knowledge can communicate this knowledge in a faithful manner. For this to happen, we need to develop a community which works together at shifting the old paradigm. Several initiatives are currently emerging here and there in this direction. Climanosco is one of them, unique of its kind, tackling this challenge one step at a time.

I am an astrophysicist by training, a solar physicist by practice, and currently hold a Faculty position in the Physics Department at the University of Montreal, Canada. For now over 25 years I have carried out research on the physical mechanisms driving solar magnetic activity. More recently I have become interested in modeling the variations of the solar radiative output across changing levels of magnetic activity levels, and quantifying the impacts such variations may have on the Earth’s upper atmosphere. My interest in climate change stems naturally from these research interests, but also from deeply held concerns regarding the future well-being of my children, and their children’s children’s children.

The debate regarding the importance of human impact on climate may be deemed closed by the vast majority of climate scientists, but policy makers as well as the general public continue to be exposed to a flow of confusing, contradictory claims, more often than not driven by agendas that are primarily political. Of particular importance, in my opinion, is to explain why it is still not yet possible to quantify the impact of solar activity on climate in a physically sound manner. In science there is nothing wrong with saying “We don’t know”, but it is our duty to explain WHY we don’t know. Climanosco appears to me an excellent vehicle towards achieving that goal.

I am an academic in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds, UK. In my research, I use computer models to study the evolution of the climate over all sorts of different time periods of Earth history. From the rapid warming associated with the Permo-Triassic mass extinction (250 million years ago) to the Pliocene (3 million years ago), the last period of Earth history with greenhouse gases similar to today, through to the climate of the Holocene, the current geological epoch. I not only investigate the mechanisms of palaeoclimate change, but also the impacts of these changes on the various components of the Earth system. These include the oceans, the cryosphere, the biosphere and also the impact on human societies and civilizations.

My vision for Climanosco is that it would be a key tool in the communication between climate scientists and the general public. That it would enable scientists to communicate their research simply, to a general audience, without the need for tabloid journalism. That the public would have a reliable, peer-reviewed source of cutting-edge climate science, which is written without the complex language of most scientific journals and accessible to all. That those who have genuine questions about climate issues and the state of current climate science would have a trusted source of information and a forum for raising their questions. That teachers could use the latest results from climate scientists around the world within the classroom, safe in the knowledge that they are using a recognised and reliable source. I hope that Climanosco will become more than a scientific communication journal and find ways to incorporate creative projects, provide the spark for citizen science and engage a whole new community with climate science.

Prof. Mark Lawrence is a scientific director at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany. His work connects science, policy and other societal sectors to co-develop solutions for the grand challenges of the Anthropocene, with a main focus on the closely-related issues of air pollution and climate change, including assessing the potentials and risks of climate geoengineering. His aim is to inspire the implementation of sustainable solutions, including developing an understanding of how such transformations can possibly be fostered by greater mindfulness, especially of our individual and collective mindsets.
Prof. Lawrence received his Ph.D. in 1996 from the Georgia Institute of Technology. From 2000 until 2011 he was a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz. He served as interim professor for meteorology at the University of Mainz during 2009-2010, and moved to the IASS in 2011. In 2014 he was appointed as an Honorary Professor at the University of Potsdam.
Prof. Lawrence is author or co-author of over 150 peer-reviewed publications. He has led various international projects, has served on the editorial and advisory boards of various journals, and is on several international committees, including having been co-chair of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry program (IGAC) from 2015-2018.

I am trained as a physicist and as an Earth and atmospheric scientist (and hold a professorship in geoecology), but now have the privilege of being a scientific director at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany. My work there connects science, policy and other societal sectors to co-develop solutions for the grand challenges of the Anthropocene, with a main focus on the closely-related issues of air pollution and climate change, including assessing the potentials and risks of climate geoengineering. In this setting, what especially drives me is the ambitious goal to inspire the implementation of sustainable solutions, including developing an understanding of how such transformations can possibly be fostered by greater mindfulness, especially of our individual and collective mindsets.
Inspiration requires communication (often even going beyond verbal and written). I have long been interested in science communication, in many different formats, such as how to effectively communicate scientific results among interdisciplinary and early career scientific audiences, and how to reach broader non-scientist audiences. Climanosco offers a bold new concept and format for science communication, combining the best of scientific robustness with an extreme degree of accessibility for non-scientist audiences. I am very pleased to be supporting its efforts in various ways, for example by helping to strengthen its connection to the community that is developing transdisciplinary and co-creative research methods, for whom Climanosco – and perhaps other journals following this model for other topics (e.g., digitalization) – could be a valuable venue for publication.

Being passionate about both environmental science and arts, I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Geography at the University of Fribourg and my Master’s in Curatorial Studies, Exhibition Management at the Zurich School of Arts.

My work and life are fuelled by the vision of creating a future for the planet where all life is connected and balanced. I strive for peace and for a sense of belonging to life for all creatures on this earth. The way there is long and requires bold action.
Climanosco is taking the right steps in this direction by engaging scientists, artists, activists, and citizens alike in finding ways into this future. I find that activism, art and science all have the power to transform that we so urgently need now. Together, we can create new ideas and shape possible futures by combining these powers.

My name is Chris Wilmott. I live in the UK and I work as a painter. My painting theme is the impact on humanity of nature. These impacts I relate to the personal lives of Us, who for me are citizens of humanity. I collaborate with artists and also with scientists & professionals in non-art disciplines. My work is research led.

Before engaging with art I had a business career. I was a partner in an international consulting firm for whom I specialised in telecommunications and computer technology. I worked in North America, Europe - in particular Switzerland and Italy - The Middle and Far East. My specialisms also included water, finance, government, business development, project management and strategy. My audit handbook was published by HMSO.

My business career always involved me in locating creative solutions and these I continue to find in my art. My BA (Fine Art) and MA (Art & Design) followed a path through painting, print making, heritage and large scale, metal, relief sculpture. Oil painting using contemporary pigments continues this journey today. Which journey also includes my support for Climanosco in which I am honoured to be a non-scientist board member.

Engagement is my vision for Climanosco. Involving the crossing of boundaries, removing barriers to communication and using art to engage science and citizens. Contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goal 17 - partnerships - is an aim of mine. Promoting and supporting exciting, multidimensional thinking, leadership, common ethical principles and global projects, in the UNESCO Decade of the Oceans 2021-30.