Nicola is a Climate Services scientist working to understand and improve the use of climate information for robust decision-making around the world. She leads a team at the UK Met Office delivering climate service projects and programmes in the UK and Internationally, with a focus on co-development of climate services using multi-disciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, tailoring climate risk information to inform policy and decision making and understanding and improving the critical interface between climate science and decision-makers. Recently she has focused on specific opportunities such as the potential for and value of combining community-based traditional knowledge of weather and climate with modern scientific knowledge, and the need to give greater attention to equity within climate service processes. Nicola is co-chair of the World Meteorological Organisation Expert Team on Climate Services for Decision Support, where she is focused on supporting countries in implementing governance and coordination structures such National Frameworks for Climate Services, National Climate Fora, and the equivalent regional scale activities.
Plenary 1. Wednesday 2 July. 13.30-16.30 – Communicating with the public, policy makers and climate.
This talk will give an overview of some of the practical challenges of developing and delivering climate services in the context of their real-world applications. Using examples from the Met Office and partners around the world, we will consider not just the effective communication and translation of climate information in a decision-making context, but also the opportunities for innovation as user needs drive scientific research in new directions; the importance of relationships and having the right voices, skills and experience at the table; and progress in the frameworks and governance that help coordinate efforts to develop, deliver and use climate services at national, regional and global levels.