Our team
The team has wide and deep experience in the most senior leadership positions across the whole weather enterprise. This enables BoW to fill significant gaps throughout the weather intelligence value chain.
Dr. David Rogers
Senior Consultant
Dr. Rogers is an independent consultant, providing expert assistance and advice on weather, water, and climate issues.
His clients have included the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), World Bank, World Meteorological Organization, World Health Organization, Green Climate Fund, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, US National Weather Service, Shanghai Municipal Government, Hyphen Group and other public and private sector organizations.
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Dr Rogers has helped develop investment strategies to enhance impact-based multi-hazard early warning systems for anticipatory action, and to modernize national meteorological, hydrological, disaster management and related services in developing and least developed countries.
This has included projects in South-eastern Europe, Russia, Middle East (Yemen), Central Asia (Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan), South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar), Southeast Asia (Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam), Pacific Islands (Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu). He has published extensively on the role and operations of meteorological services, on strengthening legal frameworks, on the development of user applications, regional cooperation, multi-hazard early warning systems, private sector engagement and guidance on transitioning government departments to public bodies.
Most recently he has played an active role in the ongoing development of the South Asia Hydromet Forum (SAHF) focusing on value creation and services for industry.
Dr Rogers is past President and founder of the Health and Climate Foundation, an international non-profit organization dedicated to finding solutions to climate related health problems and supporting partnerships between health and climate practitioners.
Prior to founding HCF, Dr. Rogers held various appointments in government, the private sector and academia. These include Chief Executive of the UK Met Office; Vice President, Science Applications International Corporation; Director of the Office of Weather and Air Quality at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Director of Physical Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and Associate Director of the California Space Institute, University of California, San Diego, USA.
Dr. Rogers has a Ph.D. (1983) from the University of Southampton and Bachelor of Science degree (1980) from the University of East Anglia, UK. He has published extensively in the fields of oceanography, meteorology, climate, environment and organizational development.
Professor Alan Thorpe
Senior Consultant
Alan is a Visiting Professor at the University of Reading, a former Non-Executive Director of the Met Office, and an ex-Director-General of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
He has wide-ranging public sector and private sector experience. He is a former Chief Executive Officer of the Natural Environment Research Council, a former Director of The Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research and a former Head of the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading.
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Alan is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Reading, and a former Non-Executive Director of the Met Office. He is an ex-Director-General of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).
Alan has wide-ranging public sector and private sector experience. He is a former Chief Executive Officer of the Natural Environment Research Council, a former Director of The Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research and a former Head of the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading.
Alan was appointed an OBE in 2016, has honorary degrees of Doctor of Science from the universities of Warwick, Birmingham, and Reading and was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Meteorological Society in 2018.
He has been involved with the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery of the World Bank and the Global Weather Enterprise Forum.
Ian Harper
Media Production Consultant
Ian is a business journalist, conference organiser, and audio and video producer.
He now produces and edits BoW’s regular video podcast, The WeatherPod, and also has responsibility for producing BoW’s video and audio productions including podcasts and webinars.
Previously he was the conference director for InterMET Asia, the annual event for the hydrometeorology industry which took place in Singapore from 2014 to 2020. Prior to that he worked for the AVIVA insurance group, The Scotsman newspaper, and the Financial Times, Reed, EMAP and Morgan Grampian publishing groups.
Haleh Kootval
Consultant
Haleh is a meteorologist with over 30 years’ experience working in national and international institutions and a leading expert in public weather services. A focus of her work in recent years has been on impact-based forecasting and warning services and helping NMHSs in developing concepts of operation and legal frameworks as part of their modernization programmes.
Haleh joined the World Bank as a consulting specialist in meteorology and service delivery in 2017. Since then, she has worked in South Asia and Laos as a team leader; in East and Central Europe, the caucuses, Central Asia, Africa and the Caribbean as part of the World Bank teams on Hydromet modernization projects.
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Prior to that Haleh worked in WMO as the Chief of the Public Weather Services (PWS) Programme, which she initiated in 1994 and developed until her departure from WMO. PWS became a flagship programme of many National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs). While in WMO, she was responsible for guiding WMO Members on the development, improvement and functioning of their national PWS Programmes, to deliver fit-for-purpose weather and related services.
Prior to joining WMO, Haleh held the position of the Head of the Brunei Meteorological Service and the Permanent Representative of Brunei with WMO, the President of WMO Regional Association for Southwest Pacific, and was a member of the WMO Executive Council.
Haleh has co-authored and edited more than 40 different publications, guidelines, and guides on modernizing NMHSs and on service delivery.
Qualifications: Professional and post graduate training in meteorology –Met Office UK Training College; M.Sc. Geophysics; Diploma of Imperial College (DIC) – Imperial College, University of London, England; B.Sc. (Honors); Physics.; Associate of the Royal College of Science (ARCS) –Imperial College, University of London, England
Dr. Vladimir Tsirkunov
Consultant
Dr. Vladimir Tsirkunov is an independent consultant, providing advice on modernization NMHS and improvement of hydrometeorological services in developing countries. He organized and led the World Bank’s GFDRR Global Hydromet Program providing analytical, capacity building, investment preparation and implementation for the WB teams and the client countries.
He was directly involved in hydromet investments and technical assistance programs in more than 45 countries. Since retiring from the WB in 2023 he was working as individual consultant in the WMO and the WB.
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Vladimir has over 40 years of scientific and project management experience in environmental, natural resource and disaster reduction management. Prior to joining the World Bank (WB) in 1994, V. Tsirkunov has been working as a Head of Laboratory supervising the USSR System of Hydrochemical Monitoring and Surface Water Quality Assessment. After joining the WB, he has held progressively more responsible positions related to the preparation, appraisal and supervision of environmental investments, technical assistance, GEF projects and, during last 20 years, strengthening weather, climate and hydrological (hydromet) and early warning services.
He was leading the GFDRR Global Hydromet/EWS Program which was the WB service center providing analytical, capacity building, investment preparation and implementation support for the World Bank’s teams and the client countries. Vladimir has established himself as one of the Bank’s global leaders in hydromet sector, he is a recognized authority in relation to strengthening national meteorological and hydrological agencies, improving hydromet service delivery and early warnings, building partnerships between public and private sectors and with international partners.
He was directly involved in preparation and implementation of hydromet investments and technical assistance activities in Albania, Armenia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Caribbean SIDS, Central Asia, DRC, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Madagascar, Moldova, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Nepal, Pacific SIDS, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vietnam, Yemen, among other countries.
Vladimir is a co-author of the number of analytical papers and reports including several WB/GFDRR flagship publications. As invited speaker and panellist he participated in the number of high-level fora including the World Climate Conference, the World Meteorological Congress, the Annual Meetings of the American Meteorological Society. He served as the World Bank focal point for interaction with multiple international programs such as the Alliance for Hydromet Development, CREWS, SOFF, Early Warning Systems for All, etc.
Michael Staudinger
Consultant
Michael Staudinger worked for 11 years as CEO of ZAMG, the Austrian National Meteorological Agency; and before that for 27 years in research, forecasting, warning cooperation and other roles at the agency. The focus of his work is international cooperation in meteorological institutions and cooperation with public stakeholders and the private sector. In this function he served as President of the Regional Association Europe of WMO, and as President of ECOMET, the association of meteorological services with commercial activities.
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Michael is the architect of the European multi-hazard warning system MeteoAlarm and helped to develop the basic structure and the cooperation with the private sector of SOFF (Systematic Observation Financing Facility).
As a Member of the National Committee of the Austrian Academy of Science his work included research strategies and interdisciplinary research. His research activities and practical work include the topics of applied meteorological forecasts, multi-hazard warnings, avalanche science, snow chemistry, glaciology, dispersion of pollutants, and risk management.
His work as consultant for the Worldbank and the Asian Development bank is focused on the development of National Hydromet Services in their cooperation with the private sector and research institutions.
Taking care of five grandchildren and enjoying classic music and jazz in Vienna keeps him busy for most of his free time, in case you don’t find him on his bike or somewhere in the Austrian mountains.
Gerald Fleming
Consultant
Meteorologist Gerald Fleming was Head of Forecasting with Met Éireann (the Irish Meteorological Service. Following studies in Experimental Physics at University College Dublin he joined Met Éireann in 1980. For most of his 37 years with Met Éireann he worked as a weather forecaster and a weather broadcaster, becoming a familiar face and voice on Irish television and radio. He was very active on the Irish Government Task Force on Emergency Management, and began the process to establish Flood Forecasting as an operational activity within Met Éireann.
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Since retirement from Met Éireann he continues to be very involved in meteorology, most notably through the World Bank and the World Meteorological Organisation, where he was chair of the Public Weather Services Programme for well over a decade. He has engaged in projects to modernise a number of Meteorological Services in Asia, in Eastern Europe, and in Africa, and also conducts communication training.
A founder member of the International Association of Broadcast Meteorology, he served two terms as Chair. He is a member of both the Irish and American Met Societies and is also active in the European Met Society (EMS) where he is co-chair of the “Engagement with Society” stream for the EMS Annual Conference. In 2019 he was awarded the EMS Silver Medal, their highest award.
David Grimes
Consultant
Member of the Order of Canada.
Renowned International Scientific Leadership and Diplomacy: 40 years of experience in serving the International Science Community, including 8 years as President of UN’s World Meteorological Organization.
Exemplary Public Service: serving the Government of Canada for 44 years, 15 as an Assistant Deputy Minister for Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Chief Executive of the Meteorological Service of Canada.
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Demonstrated Acumen: exemplary strategic executive management skills, policy development and scientific excellence in meteorology, climate, hydrology and related environmental science.
Significant Lifetime Achievements: in program design, innovation and implementation for both Canada and international community supporting public safety, environmental stewardship, and economic development.
Significant work experience related to science, policy, management and administration. Currently and formerly, supporting
- Grimes Consulting Group Inc.(CEO)
- Hyphen Global AG. (Chief Scientist)
- WMO President (Senior Advisor)
- Business of Weather (Senior Consultant)
- World Bank Group (Former Senior Consultant)
- Brock University (Former Adjunct Professor)
- UN’s World Meteorological Organization(WMO) (Past President)
- Environment Canada’s Meteorological Service of Canada (Past CEO)
Professional Affiliations
- Member of the Order of Canada.
- Member, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency’s Scientific Advisory Board
- Director, Governance Body for the Arctic Institute of North America, University of Calgary
- Director, Board of Directors, Hyphen Global AG
- Past President, World Meteorological Organization,
- Fellow of the American Meteorological Society
- Member of Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society