Professor Walter Leal (Germany) IPCC lead author, has been working in the WASCAL region for the past 25 years, with climate change and resilience projects undertaken in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast. He was involved in the training of some WASCAL PhD students, who have attended various events he has organised. Many WASCAL fellows have also regularly published in his books, especially the “Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation” (2015) and –more recently- the “Handbook of Climate Change Resilience” (2020). He has supervised/co-supervised over 20 African PhD students over the years. Professor Leal has extensive experience in managing projects in African and has in excess of 400 publications to his credit.
Role in the project: overall project coordination, liaison with the project partners, and provision
of scientific guidance on the Feasibility Study execution.
Professor Sidat Yaffa (The Gambia) specializes on agriculture, climate change research, loss & damage research, and UNFCCC negotiations. He often writes technical papers on agriculture and climate change/climate variability, and has written many project proposals, mid-term reviews, and project completion reports. Currently, he is a Professor of Agronomy at University of The Gambia, Dean, School of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences, and Director, UTG/WASCAL Doctoral Research Program on Climate Change and Education. He has published about 20 scientific journal articles on agriculture and climate change,
respectively.
Role in the project: Coordinator of the Feasibility Study in The Gambia. Responsible for the
day-to-day operations and management of the Feasibility Study in The Gambia. Professor
K.O Ogunjobi will coordinate the activities of the project and the data management at the
Competence center, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Dr. Ebrima Sonko (The Gambia) specializes on agriculture, soil nutrition and fertility, and land use change. Has a good background on GIS that relates to land use and change. He has obtained a Ph.D. on “Climate Change and Land Use” from the WASCAL Programme at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. He regularly writes technical papers on agriculture and climate change/climate variability. He has published 6 scientific journal articles on agriculture and climate change, respectively.
Role in the project: Dr. Ebrima Sonko will be Deputy Coordinator of the Feasibility Study.
He will be in charge of writing meeting reports and collecting literature data from Gambia
government sources, supervise field data collection, online scientific search, UN agencies in
The Gambia, and other land use practitioners in The Gambia.
Dr Mamma Sawaneh (The Gambia) Specializes in production and climate change economics with extensive experience and skills in Climate Change Economics related research, Participatory social research, Programme evaluation, organizational development and institutional assessment, strategy planning & policy development.
Role in the project: Dr Sawaneh will be the data Analyst of the study. He will be in charge of collecting literature data, analyzing research data, writing meeting reports and supervise field data collection, online scientific search, UN agencies in The Gambia, and other land use practitioners in The Gambia.
Dr. Peter Gibba (The Gambia) specializes on climate change and water resources management. Has a good background in water resources management and monitoring that relates to land use and change. He obtained a Ph.D. on Climate Change and Atmospheric Science from the WASCAL Programme at Federal University of Science and Technology at Akure, Nigeria. He also writes technical papers on climate change/climate variability and on water resources.
Role in the project: Dr. Peter Gibba will be in charge of supervising literature data collection during the Feasibility Study and will also make sure that the data collected are accurate and
up-to- date.
Mrs. Mai Sonko-Sanyang (The Gambia) specializes in logistics and office management. She earns a B.Sc. degree in Management at University of The Gambia (UTG). She will manage the logistics aspects of the Feasibility Study and will help collect field data. Currently, she is the Logistics Officer of UTG/WASCAL Program at UTG.
Role in the Project: Logistics Officer of the Feasibility Study in The Gambia. Will be
responsible for the day- to-day logistics operations of the Feasibility Study.
Ms. Gloria Okafor (The Gambia) specializes in Bookkeeping and Accounting. She managed the financial aspects of the just concluded (on 18th January, 2021) one year Feasibility Study on Climate Change and Renewable Energy Potentials in The Gambia. Currently, she is the Accountant of UTG/WASCAL Program at University of The Gambia.
Role in the Project: Accountant of the Feasibility Study in The Gambia. Will be responsible
for the day- to-day accounting operations of the Feasibility Study.
Mr. Lamin E. Sarr (The Gambia) specializes in IT management. He managed the IT aspects of the just concluded (on 18th January, 2021) one year Feasibility Study on Climate Change and Renewable Energy Potentials in The Gambia. Currently, he is the IT Officer of UTG/WASCAL Program at University of The Gambia.
Role in the Project: Will be responsible for the day- to-day IT operations of the Feasibility
Study.
Professor Kehinde Ogunjobi (WASCAL Competence Center) is a meteorologist,
biodiversity expert, environmental and climate scientist with vast experience in climate change, LULC, air quality and aerosols meteorology. His research focuses on air quality modeling, climate modeling. Considering the numbers and quality of his research, Professor Ogunjobi has made significant contribution to the scientific critical mass of atmospheric radiation and
aerosol science with over 70 published scientific journal articles in meteorology and climate science . He is currently the Director of research at the WASCAL competence Centre based
in Ouagadougou Burkina Faso which conduct research and delivers climate services for WASCAL. Professor Ogunjobi is a Fellowship of the International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, and Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. His research outcomes impact government policy in West Africa through his participation in implementation support missions for collaborative projects between the World Bank, UNDP, ECOWAS and WASCAL.
Role in the Project: Coordination of the capacity-building components of the project, via
the WASCAL Competence Venter.