The International Advisory Committee (IAC) guides the policy and technical planning of the Symposium and assists in inviting international partners as participants and co-sponsors.


Members of the SYMET 14 International Advisory Committee



Andrew Charleton-Perez Co-Chair

Prof. Andrew Charlton-Perez is the Head of School of Mathematical, Computational and Physical Sciences at the University of Reading. He has led teaching and learning initiatives on problem-based and research learning across the University of Reading and in the Department of Meteorology with publications in a number of journals and WMO volumes. His research interests are primarily in stratospheric dynamics and climate and links between climate and public health.

Anna Timofeeva Co-Chair
Dr. Anna Timofeeva Director of the Institute of Continuing Education, Russian State Hydrometeorological University. From 2015 to 2020, she was the head of the WMO Regional Training Center in Russia. Research interests - socio-economic value of hydrometeorological information for the economy, issues of innovation in education. Author of articles and publications on these topics.
Christoph Müller is Professor of Experimental Plant Ecology at Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany) and Professor of Soil Science at University College Dublin (Ireland). His research focuses on basic research to understand the impacts of climate change on ecosystem processes. As a staff member of both institutions, he has developed international teaching programmes on climate change. For the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he works as an expert to provide training in UN-led research programmes.

Christophe Cudennec is Professor of Hydrology in the French National « Institut Agro », with experience in multidisciplinary curricula, competency approach, e- and blended didactics, international mobility. Christophe has worked in Iceland and Tunisia, and has been expert for the World Bank and the European Union. He is the Secretary General of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, and participates to several bodies of WMO, UNESCO, UNU, UN Water.

Chris Webster works for the Meteorological Service of New Zealand, based in Wellington, New Zealand, and is an adjunct lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington. Chris has worked as an operational meteorologist in various parts of New Zealand, and as an instructor and training manager for three decades, including for the Royal NZ Air Force. He has served as an expert for WMO on a variety of education and training matters since 2007, including publications on the Basic Instruction Packages and on competency frameworks.

Dr. David Farrell

Jennifer Milton has worked in weather forecasting, climate services and analysis of extreme events.  She directed the work of various divisions of the Meteorological Service of Canada of which National Prediction and Operations and, MSC’s Training and Career Development Division which was developed and implemented through her leadership. Jennifer has participated as an expert within various WMO expert teams and specifically with WMO’s Education and Training community since 2014, having contributed to the WMO EC Panel of Experts in Education and Training, the development of the WMO Global Campus and various documents. She is currently representative for the INFCOM Technical Commission, on the Capacity Development Panel. She retired from MSC in October 2020.

Mr. John Ogren is the Chief Learning Officer at the U.S. National Weather Service.  He oversees all training programs including electronics, IT, Meteorology/Hydrology/Climate, External communication, and leadership development.  He also serves as the Vice-chair of the WMO Capacity Development Panel.
Prof. Mary Scholes, a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand, is currently a full professor in the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences. Her research activities focus on systems analysis in a variety of disciplines including, soil fertility, food security and biogeochemistry in savannas, plantation forests and croplands. She is currently actively involved in monitoring water pollution, food security, forestry and climate change and policy implementation in South Africa. Her publication record is extensive; she has mentored over 85 postgraduate students and she teaches at postgraduate level and undergraduate levels at the University. She has been awarded the Vice-Chancellors Teaching, Research and Academic Citizen Awards. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, the South African Academy of Science, the World Academy of Sciences and the African Academy of Sciences. She is the recipient of several national and international awards including being elected as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. She has served on Senate at Wits for over 25 years and has served on Council for three terms


Prof. Peter Odjugo


Mr. Roger Stone

Somenath Dutta is the head of the WMO Regional Training Centre in India. He has been associated with training provided by the India Meteorological Department since 1997, mainly in disciplines such as dynamic meteorology, geophysical fluid dynamics and atmospheric thermodynamics, and numerical weather prediction. Since 2020, Dr. Dutta is also an adjunct professor in the department of Atmospheric and Space Sciences of Savitri Bai Phule Pune University.

Winifred Jordaan works for the South African Weather Service (SAWS), based in Centurion (near Pretoria), South Africa. She is also currently an extraordinary lecturer at the University of Pretoria. Winifred has been the Head of the Regional Training Centre (RTC) of SAWS for many years. Originally she was a researcher that took over the coordinated training of meteorologists and worked with the University of Pretoria and then later established the RTC. The South African RTC specialized in competency training for forecasters as well as meteorological technicians. She has served as an expert for WMO on a variety of education and training matters. 


Dr. Zhiqiang Wang



Last modified: Tuesday, 26 October 2021, 9:39 PM