Chris Lennard

Research Staff

Although now a climatologist, I am a lapsed zoologist who has also dabbled in the dark art of oceanography. As such I hold an undergraduate degrees in Zoology and Oceanography, and post graduate degrees in Ocean and Atmospheric Science (B.Sc. Hons), Zoology (M.Sc.) and Climatology (Ph.D.). As a zoologist I was interested in the historic causes of historic avian extinction (introduced predators) and how these have changed over time with respect to the current most threatened species (habitat loss). My Ph.D. tested the ability of a regional climate model (MM5) to capture extreme rainfall events over Cape Town, South Africa.

Currently my CSAG projects and responsibilities include:

1. The development of a Wind Atlas for South Africa for the assessment of renewable energy resources in South Africa. The latest WASA3 data and reports are available here with more information available (here). The fourth Phase of WASA will begin in 2024 and in addition to updating the wind atlas, we will investigate the impacts of climate change on the wind energy resource in southern Africa.
2. I am PI on the Degrees Modelling Fund (DMF) project that is investigating the potential impacts of stratospheric climate intervention on the southern African and African climate. Additionally I am the collaborating scientist on 3 other DMF projects in Africa.
3. I am Co-PI on the Wellcome Trust funded Health:RADAR project (Responsible Access to Data for Analysis and Research), a collaboration between the Modelling and Simulation Hub, Africa (MASHA) and CSAG to co-develop an open-source web-based platform in which data is collated, curated and transformed to catalyse Climate Sensitive Infectious Disease (CSID) modelling.
4. I am a member of the scientific team in two EU H2020 projects, namely FOCUS-Africa and CONFER. Furthermore I contribute to activities facilitating the co-production of knowledge by stakeholders and scientists to inform adaptation and mitigation strategies in response to global warming impacts.
5. I am leading the development of online lecture modules in the Blended Training Programme for the Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES) for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
6. I lecture into climate related courses at UCT and the CSAG Winterschool.
7. Student supervision at the Post-graduate and Post-Doctoral levels.
8. I serve on the CSAG Strategic Oversight Committee

Internationally my responsibilities include:

1. Through the Co-Ordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX ) I lead the CORDEX-Africa Analysis Initiative; the development of the CORDEX Impacts Atlas for Africa; served a term on the CORDEX Scientific Advisory Team and am currently a Point of Contact for Africa. One of my current Cordex responsibilities includes the engagement of users of climate information which I find particularly satisfying. I also served a 5-year term on the CORDEX Scientific Advisory Team.
2. For the IPCC 6th Assessment Cycle I was a lead author in the IPCC AR6 WGII Africa chapter (Chapter 9) and was a lead author in Chapter 2 of the IPCC Special Report on Land and Climate. In the IPCC 5th Assessment cycle I was a Lead Author in the WGII Africa Chapter.
3. I am the co-chair of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Academy Lighthouse, am a regional focal point for Africa and facilitate the activities of the WCRP African Climate Research Forum .
4. I serve on the steering committee of the WCRP Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP6), one of the 23 WCRP-endorsed CMIP6 model intercomparison projects. GeoMIPs role is to discover common ways in which climate models treat various climate geoengineering scenarios and to gather model consensus as to the likely climate effects and on-the-ground impacts of climate geoengineering. This to better inform the scientific community, policy makers, and the public about the impacts of solar geoengineering as we blast through 1.5 degrees in the early 2030s.
5. I serve on the WCRP Vulnerability, Impacts, Adaptation and Climate Services (VIACS) Advisory Board (VIACS) for CMIP6 whose role is to improve communications between communities that apply climate model output for societal benefit and the climate modelling centers.

Please see my ORCID or Google Scholar profiles for my publications list if it is not below.

When I'm not doing that I'm trying my best to be a good husband and dad; I love running or biking somewhere on Table Mountain and very occasionally, as opportunity presents itself, satisfy my craving to ski!

If any of the above resonates with you feel free to get in touch using lennard at csag dot uct dot ac dot za.

"Everywhere you go you always take the weather with you"......Crowded House    

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