West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) has appointed Professor Jimmy Omoniyi Adegoke as its interim Executive Director. He takes over from Dr. Laurent Sedogo who for the past three years, was the Executive Director of WASCAL.

Prof. Adegoke’s appointment is a six-month executive management consultancy effective April 1, 2017. He will be the administrative head of the overall WASCAL organization and report to the Governing Board. Until this appointment, Prof. Adegoke was the Chair of the WASCAL Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC)

Prof. Jimmy Adegoke is a climate scientist and tenured Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) where he served as Chair of the Department of Geosciences from 2008 to 2010 and currently Director of the Center for Applied Environmental Research (CAER). He brings on board rich science management experience and world class expertise in the fields of international climate science and environmental systems spanning over 30 years.

He was previously Executive Director of the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Natural Resources & Environment (NRE) Division, Pretoria, South Africa from 2010 to 2012, where he also served as the Director of the Applied Centre for Climate & Earth Systems Science (ACCESS), a Centre of Excellence (CoE) of the South Africa Department of Science & Technology (DST) Global Change Grande Challenge (GCGC) programme.
Prof Adegoke earned a Ph.D. in Geography with specialization in Climate Science from The Pennsylvania State University, USA. He also holds degrees from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (BSc) and the University of Ibadan (MSc), both in Nigeria.

Professor Adegoke maintains permanent residence in Kansas City where he was, until recently, an appointee of the Mayor of Kansas City Missouri (KCMO) on the city’s Environmental Management Commission (EMC). He holds dual citizenship in Nigeria and the United States of America.

WASCAL is a leading academic and trans-disciplinary research organization building graduate-level scientific capacity and serving policy makers in West Africa with science-based advice on adaptation to climate change impacts and land use management. It cooperates with many agencies and universities in the region, providing a knowledge platform of excellence for its partners. WASCAL is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany and its 10 West African member countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d‘Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.

West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) has appointed Professor Jimmy Omoniyi Adegoke as its interim Executive Director. He takes over from Dr. Laurent Sedogo who for the past three years, was the Executive Director of WASCAL.

Prof. Adegoke’s appointment is a six-month executive management consultancy effective April 1, 2017. He will be the administrative head of the overall WASCAL organization and report to the Governing Board. Until this appointment, Prof. Adegoke was the Chair of the WASCAL Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC)

Prof. Jimmy Adegoke is a climate scientist and tenured Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) where he served as Chair of the Department of Geosciences from 2008 to 2010 and currently Director of the Center for Applied Environmental Research (CAER). He brings on board rich science management experience and world class expertise in the fields of international climate science and environmental systems spanning over 30 years.

He was previously Executive Director of the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Natural Resources & Environment (NRE) Division, Pretoria, South Africa from 2010 to 2012, where he also served as the Director of the Applied Centre for Climate & Earth Systems Science (ACCESS), a Centre of Excellence (CoE) of the South Africa Department of Science & Technology (DST) Global Change Grande Challenge (GCGC) programme.
Prof Adegoke earned a Ph.D. in Geography with specialization in Climate Science from The Pennsylvania State University, USA. He also holds degrees from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (BSc) and the University of Ibadan (MSc), both in Nigeria.

Professor Adegoke maintains permanent residence in Kansas City where he was, until recently, an appointee of the Mayor of Kansas City Missouri (KCMO) on the city’s Environmental Management Commission (EMC). He holds dual citizenship in Nigeria and the United States of America.

WASCAL is a leading academic and trans-disciplinary research organization building graduate-level scientific capacity and serving policy makers in West Africa with science-based advice on adaptation to climate change impacts and land use management. It cooperates with many agencies and universities in the region, providing a knowledge platform of excellence for its partners. WASCAL is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany and its 10 West African member countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d‘Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.

WASCAL’s Graduate Research Programme in West African Climate Change Systems (GRP WACS) unit at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Nigeria has won the 2016 Chancellor Excellence and Productivity award.

The prestigious award which was given during the convocation week of the University, recognized WACS as the best unit. The award goes to acknowledge the excellent performance and outstanding contributions of WASCAL towards the development of the University. WACS was presented with a plaque and amount of One Hundred Thousand Naira (N100,000).

WASCAL, in partnership with the Federal University of Technology, Akure in Nigeria started the Doctoral Programme in West African Climate Systems in 2012, with support from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany (BMBF). Twenty-Nine (29) students from within West Africa have so far enrolled for Doctoral degree under this programme, and 19 of them have graduated.

The award is an indication of WASCAL’s pivotal role in building the capacities of the next generation of scientists and policy makers to help combat the issue of climate change in West Africa.

Nine Doctoral students have graduated in Climate Change and Biodiversity under the WASCAL’s Capacity Building Programme with support from Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) and in affiliation with the University Felix Houpouet Boigny, Cote d’Ivoire.

This is the first batch of students since the inception of the programme in Cote d’Ivoire in 2012.

Director of Capacity Building Department, Professor Janet Adelegan was delighted about the successful graduation of the students after four years of intense academic and research work.

WASCAL is still working hard to ensure that it remains a Centre of excellence in Climate Change Capacity Building in West Africa. Congratulations to all the grandaunts .

The first batch of the Doctoral students who pursued WASCAL’s programme in Climate Change and Agriculture at Institut Polytechnique Rural de Formation et de Recherche Appliiquee de Katibougou (IPR/IFRA), Mali in collaboration with the University of Science and Technology, Mali and University of Cape Coast(UCC), Ghana have graduated.

Nine out of the ten students successfully graduated after four years of a fully sponsored Doctoral programme by WASCAL, with support from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The programme was designed to build the capacity of young scientists to implement strategies towards mitigation and adaptation to the negative effects of climate change in Agriculture.

In a congratulatory speech, Professor Amoro Coulibaly, Director of the Programme admonished the granduants to go out and act as ambassadors of WASCAL as they work hard to help combat the negative effects of climate change in West Africa. Granduants expressed gratitude to WASCAL and BMBF for the opportunity given them.

WASCAL is committed to training experts for West African countries to combat the adverse effects of climate change.

German and African scientists have developed a system that uses mobile communications to bring up-to-date and accurate weather forecasts to farmers all over Burkina Faso.